Artemis II, Sunset Photos, February 1, 2026
Artemis II, Night Shots, February 1, 2026
A few photos from February 1, 2026, of Artemis II from Beach Road at Kennedy Space Center.
Artemis II Weather Criteria
Here’s a chart of the Artemis II weather criteria.
Artemis II Viewing Spots
The Artemis II mission will mark humanity’s return to lunar exploration with a crewed spacecraft for the first time since Apollo 17 in December 1972. NASA’s Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft will carry astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen on an approximately 10-day journey around the Moon and back to Earth.
The launch window opens on February 6, 2026, with additional opportunities on February 7th, 8th, 10th, and 11th. Launch will occur from Launch Complex 39B at Kennedy Space Center—the same historic pad complex that sent Apollo astronauts to the Moon aboard Apollo 10. After that, LC-39B was reconfigured for the Space Shuttle program, serving as the launch site for 53 missions.
Previously Flown Components Of Artemis II
One of the goals of SLS was to reuse remaining hardware from NASA’s Shuttle program where possible. This was intended to be a cost-saving measure, but given the high price of a single SLS stack costs more than two billion dollars: The SLS rocket for Artemis II (and each Artemis mission) costs approximately $4.1 billion per launch per the NASA OIG, with about half of that being tied up in the rocket and capsule. That’s a lot of money.
Still, there a lot of previously flown pieces of hardware on America’s newest moon rocket.
Artemis II Rollout To LC-39B
SLS began its slow and deliberate journey to Launch Pad 39B from the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) early on January 17 at Kennedy Space Center, marking a major milestone in the agency’s quest to return astronauts to the Moon for the first time in more than half a century.
The 322-foot-tall rocket emerged from the cavernous Vehicle Assembly Building at 7:04 a.m. EST, carried atop Crawler-Transporter 2 for the four-mile trek to the historic launch complex. The combined stack — rocket, Orion capsule, and mobile launcher — weighs approximately 11 million pounds and is traveling at a top speed of just under one mile per hour.
Looking Back Through Artemis I Photos
Artemis II, NASA’s return to lunar space, is expected to be rolled out to the launch pad this month, with a launch planned for February. That seemed like a good time to review my old Artemis I shots, and I found a few that were pretty good.
Inside the VAB: A Look At Artemis II Assembly
NASA offered reporters and press photographers a rare chance to go inside the VAB today to view the progress of the assembly of Artemis II, the next and first crewed launch of the SLS rocket. That mission will carry four astronauts on a circumlunar flight and is currently slated to fly in April 2026.
Artemis II Core Stage Move to VAB, July 24, 2024
After berthing in the Turn Basin by the Press Center yesterday, the Core Stage of Artemis II was offloaded today and moved into the VAB. The process began around 9 a.m. EDT and took nearly three hours until the 212-foot rocket traveled the relatively short distance—perhaps 1/2 kilometer—to the VAB.
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