Kamal Ghorui
NASA teams are continuing through the countdown for the Artemis II wet dress rehearsal, a full-fueling test of the Space Launch System rocket at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Through the night, engineers monitored systems as temperatures dropped and winds remained high at the launch site.Early this morning, at around L-39 hours and 30 minutes, the rocket’s core stage was powered up. In the hours ahead, it is expected to be loaded with more than 700,000 gallons of liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen during the tanking phase. The process unfolds gradually, with the tanks filled, topped off, and then replenished as needed. The interim cryogenic propulsion stage was powered overnight, while the Orion spacecraft has remained powered for several days because of colder-than-usual conditions in Florida.
Live coverage during NASA’s Artemis II wet dress rehearsal
Engineers are preparing to charge Orion’s flight batteries and are set to begin charging the core stage batteries as well. Later in the day, teams will carry out final work on the umbilical arms and conduct a walkdown at the launch pad.A live video stream of the rocket at the pad has been running continuously on NASA’s YouTube channel, with NASA planning a separate feed during the fuelling operations. Real-time blog updates are also expected throughout the test. The information released so far comes directly from NASA’s official Artemis II status updates.
Countdown timeline includes simulated launch window
The countdown clock began at 8:13 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, which corresponds to 6:43 a.m. Indian Standard Time. This marked L-48 hours and 40 minutes ahead of a simulated launch window set to open at 9 p.m. EST on Monday, February 2, or 7:30 a.m. IST on Tuesday, February 3. The rehearsal is expected to continue until about 1 a.m. EST on February 3, which is 11:30 a.m. IST.NASA’s countdown follows a structure built around both “L minus” and “T minus” times. L-minus tracks the time remaining until the liftoff, while T-minus tracks the sequence of events leading up to launch. Teams can pause the clock to manage tasks or align with a target window. During those holds, the T-minus clock stops, while L-minus continues to run.As part of the rehearsal, teams will pause briefly at T-1 minute and 30 seconds, resume the count, then stop again at T-33 seconds. The clock will then be recycled back to T-10 minutes for a second terminal countdown, ending once more at T-33 seconds. The sequence is designed to mirror real launch conditions, including situations where a launch might be delayed or scrubbed.Once the test concludes, propellants will be drained from the rocket and engineers will review the data before setting a formal launch target.
Artemis II crew milestones practised without astronauts present
The Artemis II crew is not taking part in the wet dress rehearsal itself, but crew-related milestones are still folded into the timeline. The Artemis closeout crew will practise launch-day procedures, including sealing the Orion crew module and closing the launch abort system hatches, as preparations continue toward NASA’s first crewed Artemis mission around the Moon.
