NASA ‘on track’ for April 1 ‘Artemis 2’ launchAFP, CAPE CANAVERALNASA on Thursday said that the long-delayed launch of Artemis 2, the first crewed flyby mission to the moon in more than 50 years, could come as soon as April 1. “We are on track for a launch as early as April 1, and we are working toward that date,” Lori Glaze, a senior NASA official, told a news conference, after technical difficulties delayed a launch originally expected last month. Photo: APThe US space agency last month announced a sudden revamp of the Artemis program, including the addition of a test mission before an eventual lunar landing. The Artemis 2 mission is meant to be the first flyby of the moon in more than half a century. After launch, NASA diagrams indicate Artemis 2 would circumnavigate Earth before leaving orbit to travel to the moon, without landing, for a lunar flyby before returning to Earth and splashing down in the ocean.

Source: Taipei Times March 13, 2026 16:52 UTC