Kennedy Space Center

Artemis II

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.

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SLS began its slow and deliberate journey to Launch Pad 39B from the Vehical Assembly Building (VAB) early Saturday morning 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, with the journey expected to take between eight and twelve hours. At the time of this writing, that journey is still underway and should conclude late this afternoon or early this evening.

Hundreds of space center workers, family members, and guests gathered along the crawlerway to witness the spectacle as the towering white rocket inched past against a clear Florida sky. NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman and the four Artemis II astronauts were on hand to mark the occasion.

“Wow. LETS GO!!!” Commander Reid Wiseman posted on X alongside a photo of the rocket moving out of the VAB. In a subsequent post, he called the SLS and Orion “engineering art.”

Once the rocket reaches Launch Pad 39B, teams will immediately begin connecting ground support equipment, including electrical lines, environmental control system ducts, and cryogenic propellant feeds. Engineers will then power up the integrated systems for the first time to verify everything functions properly with the mobile launcher and pad infrastructure.

A wet dress rehearsal is scheduled for late January or early February. During this critical test, ground crews will load more than 700,000 gallons of cryogenic liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen into the rocket’s tanks and conduct multiple countdown sequences, including several holds and recycles in the final minutes to validate launch procedures.

Artemis Launch Director Charlie Blackwell-Thompson said a February launch remains possible but emphasized that the timeline depends on the outcome of upcoming testing. “We need to get through wet dress,” she said during a pre-rollout briefing yesterday.

NASA’s launch window opens February 6, with additional opportunities on February 7, 8, 10, and 11. Due to the orbital mechanics governing the mission’s trajectory to the Moon, only about one week of launch opportunities exists each month, followed by roughly three weeks without viable windows.

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The Artemis II rollout is scheduled to begin no earlier than 7 AM ET NASA tomorrow (Saturday, January 17). The four-mile journey from the VAB to Launch Pad 39B should take between 8-12 hours at about one mile per hour, so you’ll have a long window to get a glimpse of the proceedings as they happen.

Best Places To Watch

Playalinda Beach will be ideal since it’s the closest public land to both the VAB and Pad 39B (as close as 3.6 miles to 39B from the parking lots). Lot 1 (the southermost) gives you the best angle toward the crawlerway route.

While the National Park Service has not announced any specific closures related to the rollout, it would be a good idea to call ahead to confirm that Playalinda is open and has not reached capacity. That’s when all the parking lots are full, and if it reaches that level of attendance, new entrants are denied. Also, keep in mind that an entrance fee is required. The best way to pay for that is to visit the NPS website here.

In Titusville

The Titusville waterfront on the Indian River is another great place to see Artemis II emerging and then heading towards LC-39B. The parks are free, there’s plenty of parking, with food and other options nearby.

Space View Park – Free, always open, and directly across the water with views of both the VAB and 39B

Max Brewer Bridge itself offers an elevated perspective if you can access it on foot (often closed to traffic for launches, but rollouts may be different).

Rotary Riverfront Park – a favorite for launch viewers, this easy-in, easy-out location off of US-1 will be a great spot to see Artemis II.

William J. Manzo Memorial Park one of Titusville’s lesser known parks, this location has a great view across the river to the VAB and LC-39B.

KSC Visitor Complex – They don’t appear to be offering special rollout viewing packages, and the VAB obstructs direct sightlines from many spots there anyway, so later in the day may be the best time to try to view Artemis II.

The Saturn V Center is the closest public facility within the complex grounds, but it is unclear if tour buses will be affected by the rocket move. Assuming everything works out and the public can get to the SVC, it will be a nice day after a cool start, so that may be the best option. Enquire at KSCVC for more information — things change fast around Kennedy Space Center and we do not want to mislead anyone by posting old or incorrect info.

Relax, You’ve Got All Day To See This

Since the rollout is a slow, multi-hour event rather than a blink-and-miss-it launch, you’ve got flexibility. About an hour after rollout begins, the rocket is expected to emerge from the VAB, offering the public its first full look at the United State’s first crewed moon rocket in over fifty years. Arriving around 8 a.m. should let you see it emerge and begin the trek to the launch pad. If you arrive at 10am, that’s fine, the rocket will have traveled only part of the way.

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Red circles identify the strakes in place on the SLS core stage. Photo: Boeing

When NASA’s Artemis II moon rocket rolls out to Launch Complex 39B this weekend, sharp-eyed observers will notice something new on the core stage: four thin metal fins that weren’t there for Artemis I.

They’re called strakes, and they exist because the rocket’s first flight revealed a problem nobody fully anticipated.

After Artemis I launched in November 2022, Boeing and NASA engineers dug into the flight data and found that the Space Launch System experienced higher-than-expected vibrations near the points where the twin solid rocket boosters attach to the core stage. The culprit turned out to be turbulent airflow swirling through the gap between the boosters and the orange core stage during ascent—an aerodynamic nuisance that needed fixing before astronauts climbed aboard.

The fix itself is elegantly simple. Strakes are fin-like structures commonly used on aircraft to manage airflow, but they’d never been added to the SLS core stage. Boeing’s engineering team ran the numbers through wind tunnel tests and computational fluid dynamics simulations, then designed four strakes sized and positioned to calm the turbulence and dampen vibrations for Artemis II and all future flights.

Getting them installed on an already-aggressive schedule required some hustle on NASA and Boeing’s part. “We immediately pulled together a team—the best of the best,” said Brandon Burroughs, who led the strake implementation effort. “The team worked around the clock and even through the year-end break. By working closely with NASA and streamlining processes, we did in weeks what would normally be done in years.”

Before drilling a single hole at Kennedy Space Center, technicians practiced the procedure in Huntsville, Alabama. The strakes were ready to install before the core stage was fully stacked on the mobile launcher—a critical bit of timing that avoided the access headaches that would’ve come once the solid rocket boosters were in place.

It’s a small addition with big implications.

Artemis II will carry four astronauts on a roughly 10-day trip around the moon, the first crewed flight beyond Earth orbit in more than half a century. Every improvement to the rocket brings NASA one step closer to landing crews on the lunar surface—and eventually, Mars.

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Infrared cameras tracked Crew Dragon under parachutes in the night sky over the Pacific Ocean
Source: NASA Livestream

SpaceX’s Crew Dragon capsule carrying the four-person Crew-11 team touched down in the Pacific Ocean off San Diego early Thursday, wrapping up a mission that lasted just over five months aboard the International Space Station.

NASA astronauts Zena Cardman and Mike Fincke, JAXA astronaut Kimiya Yui, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Platonov splashed down at 12:41 AM PT. SpaceX recovery crews pulled the spacecraft and astronauts from the water shortly after.

NASA Astronaut Mike Finke was the first to exit Crew Dragon this morning after it was brought aboard SpaceX’s recovery vehicle.

The crew came home roughly three weeks ahead of schedule due to an undisclosed medical issue affecting one of the four. Citing privacy, NASA has declined to identify which crew member is involved but confirmed the individual remains in stable condition. All four astronauts were transported to a local hospital for evaluation following splashdown—a precautionary measure to take advantage of medical resources on the ground. Presumably, the crew member with the medical issue can now begin treatment.

“I couldn’t be prouder of our astronauts and the teams on the ground at NASA, SpaceX, and across our international partnerships,” NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said in a statement. “Their professionalism and focus kept the mission on track, even with an adjusted timeline.”

The crew launched from Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Complex 39A on August 1, 2025, and docked to the station about 15 hours later. Over the course of 167 days in orbit, they circled Earth more than 2,670 times and racked up nearly 71 million miles.

crew 11
Crew 11 Launching

Crew-11 conducted more than 140 experiments during their stay and marked the 25th anniversary of continuous human presence aboard the ISS on November 2. The mission was Fincke’s fourth trip to space, bringing his career total to 549 days—fourth-highest among all NASA astronauts. For Cardman and Platonov, it was their first spaceflight.

After a planned overnight hospital stay, all four crew members will head to NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston for standard postflight medical checks and reconditioning.

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NASA’s moon rocket is finally hitting the road.

The agency announced that the fully stacked Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft will begin their four-mile trek from the Vehicle Assembly Building to Launch Complex 39B no earlier than Saturday, January 17, with first motion expected around 7 a.m. ET. The journey aboard Crawler-Transporter 2 will take up to 12 hours.

Artemis II Rollout Details
Artemis II Rollout: VAB to LC-39B
Distance Approximately 4 miles (6.4 km)
Speed 0.82–1 mph (1.3–1.6 km/h) loaded
Total Time 10–12 hours, depending on conditions and stops
Method Crawler-Transporter 2 (CT-2), a 6.6-million-pound vehicle
Purpose Transport the fully assembled rocket from the VAB to Launch Pad 39B for wet dress rehearsal and final launch preparations

Teams have been working around the clock to close out remaining tasks ahead of rollout, though the date could shift if additional time is needed for technical preparations or weather.

The rollout marks the beginning of final integration and testing for what will be the first crewed mission beyond Earth orbit in more than 50 years. Once at the pad, NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch, along with Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen, will conduct a final walkdown before launch preparations continue.

A wet dress rehearsal is planned for late January, during which teams will load more than 700,000 gallons of cryogenic propellants and run through countdown procedures. The earliest launch window opens February 6, with additional opportunities on February 7, 8, 10, and 11.

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The Crew 9 mission came to an end yesterday with SpaceX Crew Dragon 'Freedom' splashing down in the Gulf of America. Photo: NASA

NASA and SpaceX are targeting Wednesday, January 14, at 5:00 PM EST for the undocking of Dragon Endeavour from the International Space Station, beginning the first medical evacuation in the orbiting laboratory’s 25-year history. If weather and all other factors are acceptable, the four-person Crew-11 team is expected to splash down off the coast of San Diego, California, at approximately 3:40 AM ET on Thursday, January 15.

Return Timeline

NASA has published the following schedule for Crew-11’s departure:

Crew-11 Return Timeline
Time (EST) Event
Wednesday, January 14
3:00 PM Hatch closure coverage begins
3:30 PM Hatch closing
4:45 PM Undocking coverage begins
5:00 PM Undocking
Thursday, January 15
2:15 AM Reentry coverage begins
2:50 AM Deorbit burn
3:40 AM Splashdown
5:45 AM Post-return media conference

The roughly 11-hour journey from undocking to splashdown follows standard Crew Dragon procedures. Mission managers continue monitoring weather and sea states in the Pacific Ocean recovery zone, and the precise splashdown location will be confirmed closer to undocking.

Crew 11 Is A Controlled Evacuation, Not An Emergency Egress

NASA officials have repeatedly emphasized this is a “controlled medical evacuation” rather than an emergency return. In true emergencies, Dragon can bring crew home within hours, but the agency opted for standard departure procedures to minimize risk.

“Safely conducting our missions is our highest priority,” NASA stated. “These are the situations NASA and our partners train for and prepare to execute safely.”

The affected crew member remains stable. NASA has declined to identify which of the four astronauts is experiencing the medical concern, citing privacy policies. The issue first came to light on January 7 when JAXA astronaut Kimiya Yui requested a private medical conference with flight surgeons.

Crew 11 Astronaut Mike Finke Provides An Update

As many of you have heard, our crew will be coming home just a few weeks earlier than planned due to an unexpected medical issue. First and foremost, we are all OK. Everyone on board is stable, safe, and well cared for. This was a deliberate decision to allow the right medical evaluations to happen on the ground, where the full range of diagnostic capability exists. It’s the right call, even if it’s a bit bittersweet.

Crew-11 astronauts preparing space suits for return

This photo was taken as we prepared our space suits for return—a normal, methodical step in getting ready to come home, and a reminder that this decision was made calmly and carefully, with people at the center.

What stands out most to me is how clearly NASA cares about its people. Flight surgeons, engineers, managers, and support teams came together quickly and professionally to chart the best path forward. The ground teams—across mission control centers and partner organizations around the world—have been extraordinary.

We’re proud of the joint work we’ve done and the camaraderie we’ve shared, including some great songs and more than a few dad jokes. It has been a privilege to serve aboard the International Space Station—an extraordinary orbiting laboratory and a symbol of what nations can achieve together. Living and working here with our international partners has been both humbling and deeply rewarding.

This moment also highlights the strength of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program and our partnership with SpaceX. Dragon provides a safe, reliable, and flexible capability to bring us home on short notice when it’s the right thing to do.

We’re leaving the ISS in great hands. The three crewmates who arrived in November will continue the mission, and they’ll be joined by Crew-12 in just a few weeks. Explore 74!

We’re grateful for the teamwork, proud of the mission, and looking forward to coming home soon—back to our loved ones and to resolving any medical questions with the best care available.

— Ad Astra per Aspera!
NASA Astronaut Mike Fincke, January 11, 2026

Interestingly, Mike Finke gave the update outside of NASA’s official media channels, instead, he posted it to his LinkedIn page. That’s not to say that NASA did not know and approve of what Finke had to say, just that he made it a personal statement from a personal channel.

Crew Preparations Underway

The Crew-11 astronauts have spent recent days preparing for departure. A key step involves fit-checking their Dragon pressure suits—necessary because the spine lengthens and body fluids shift toward the head in microgravity, affecting torso and limb dimensions. The crew also tested suit audio and video communication systems.

Commander Zena Cardman drained water from two NASA spacesuits aboard the station—the same suits that would have been used for the January 8 spacewalk that was cancelled when the medical situation arose. Yui and Platonov continued research activities, with Platonov studying blood vessel function in microgravity and methods for preventing blood clots during spaceflight.

Station Crew After Departure

When Endeavour undocks, the International Space Station will be left with only three crew members—the smallest complement in years:

  • Chris Williams (NASA)
  • Sergey Kud-Sverchkov (Roscosmos)
  • Sergei Mikaev (Roscosmos)

The trio arrived November 27, 2025, aboard Soyuz MS-28 and will remain aboard until July 2026. Williams will serve as the sole American operator for NASA’s systems and science experiments until Crew-12 arrives.

NASA and Roscosmos intentionally place astronauts on different spacecraft precisely for situations like this. The U.S. and Russian segments of the station are interdependent, requiring at least one person from each country to keep operations running.

“This is one of the reasons why we fly mixed crews on Soyuz and US vehicles,” said NASA Associate Administrator Amit Kshatriya in a NASA press conference last Friday. “We want to make sure we have operators for both segments.”

Crew-12 Launch Under Evaluation

NASA is assessing whether to accelerate the Crew-12 launch, currently targeting no earlier than February 15. The Crew-12 team includes NASA astronauts Jessica Meir and Jack Hathaway, ESA astronaut Sophie Adenot, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev.

NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman has indicated the agency is comfortable with the gap in crew size. The station has operated with skeleton crews before—as few as two people remained aboard following the Columbia tragedy in 2003.

Asked whether an accelerated Crew-12 launch could impact Artemis II preparations at Kennedy Space Center, Isaacman was direct: “These would be totally separate campaigns at this point.” NASA’s crewed lunar mission remains on track for its February launch window.

Historical Context

While unprecedented for the International Space Station, medical evacuations from orbit have occurred before. In November 1985, Soviet Salyut 7 commander Vladimir Vasyutin became seriously ill after two months in space and returned early with his crewmates.

Afterward, Cosmonaut Viktor Savinykh published a diary detailing the difficult situation. Like NASA today, Soviet officials declined to identify the specific medical problem for privacy reasons, though it is generally believed to have been a prostate infection.

The Crew-11 return demonstrates the value of having crew return vehicles permanently docked at the station. Dragon Endeavour has been attached to the Harmony module’s zenith port since August 2025, ready for exactly this contingency.

Looking Ahead

NASA coverage of undocking and splashdown will air on NASA Television, the NASA app, and the agency’s website. Following crew recovery, a media conference is scheduled for 5:45 AM EST on January 15.

The return will mark the end of Crew-11’s mission approximately three weeks ahead of schedule. Upon splashdown, the affected crew member will receive appropriate medical evaluation and care—the primary goal that prompted NASA’s decision to bring the team home early.

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playalinda beach
Playalinda. Photo: Charles Boyer

Canaveral National Seashore will implement temporary schedule changes at Playalinda Beach to support NASA’s upcoming Artemis II mission, the National Park Service announced on January 9th.

Beginning Sunday, January 12th, the Playalinda District will operate on reduced hours of 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., two hours shorter than the normal 6:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. schedule. The modified hours will remain in effect through January 31st.

Playalinda Beach Closures – Artemis II

Playalinda Beach Schedule Changes

Canaveral National Seashore – Artemis II Launch Support

Dates Hours Status
January 12 – January 30, 2026 8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. Reduced Hours
January 31 – February 6, 2026* Closed
Day after successful launch 6:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m. Normal Hours Resume
*Closure continues until day of successful Artemis II launch

For more information:
www.nps.gov/cana/planyourvisit/hours.htm
Phone: (321) 267-1110

Starting January 31st, the entire Playalinda Beach District will close completely and remain closed through February 6th—or until the day of a successful Artemis II launch. The closure encompasses the period when NASA’s first launch window opens for the historic crewed lunar mission.

Normal operating hours will resume the day following a successful launch.

Visitors planning trips to the seashore during this period should check the National Park Service website or contact the park directly for the latest access information.

Day OR Night Launch, Most Of MINWR Won’t Be Open For Spectators For Liftoff

The redundantly named Playalinda Beach (playa – beach, linda – beautiful in Spanish) offers some of the closest public viewing locations for launches from Kennedy Space Center and the north end of Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, but that will definitely not the case for Artemis II’s launch.

Not only will Playalinda be closed, but if Artemis I in 2022 serves as any guide, much of Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge will be in the official security zone and the public will have no access, with KSC Police turning away unauthorized cars at the entrance to the Refuge (near the end of the Max Brewer Bridge on Beach Road.) On the north side, on FL-3, the Haulover Bridge was as far south as people were allowed.

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Artemis II Rollout
Artemis II in the Vehicle Assembly Building. Photo: NASA

NASA has published its launch window availability for Artemis II, the agency’s first crewed lunar mission in over 50 years, with opportunities spanning February through April 2026. The Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft are scheduled to roll out from the Vehicle Assembly Building to Launch Complex 39B NET January 17th.

The four-mile journey aboard Crawler-Transporter 2 will take up to 12 hours before the integrated launch structure and rocket arrive at their final destination.

After Artemis II is rolled out to LC39B, engineers and technicians will start pad integration tasks, including connecting essential ground support equipment such as electrical lines, environmental control system ducts, and cryogenic propellant feeds. After those tasks are successfully completed, teams will then power up all integrated systems for the first time at the pad.

All windows are 120 minutes, except for March 11th, which offers a slightly shorter 115-minute window.

Lighting Constraints Drive Window Selection

The published windows reflect careful consideration of lighting conditions, so that Orion is not in darkness for more than 90 minutes at a time post-launch, therefore allowing its solar arrays to keep generating power and the spacecraft to stay within its thermal limits. Dates that would put Orion into extended eclipses are removed from consideration.

Another consideration is that the launch window constraints ensure optimal conditions for tracking cameras and abort scenarios during the critical ascent phase.

NASA notes all dates remain subject to adjustments as the mission progresses through final preparations.

First Launch Opportunities Open February 6

The earliest available launch window opens on February 6, 2026, at 9:41 pm ET, with a 2-hour window. Launch opportunities continue through February 11th, followed by a brief gap, then resume mid-month. Each window in the February series shifts progressively later into the night, with the final February opportunity on the 11th occurring at 1:05 AM EST.

Should weather or technical issues prevent a February launch, NASA has identified windows throughout March and April. The March series begins on the 6th at 8:29 PM ET, while April windows open as early as 6:24 PM ET on April 1st—notably the only daytime launch opportunity in the released schedule, occurring approximately 1.3 hours before sunset.

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Crew 11 prepares to board Crew Dragon and launch to Station on August 1, 2025. Photo: Charles Boyer

NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman announced in a press conference today that NASA’s Crew 11 would return early from the International Space Station due to an unnamed medical issue with an unnamed member of the crew. The date and time of that return has not yet been determined, and will be announced once it is determined.

NASA astronauts Zena Cardman and Michael Fincke, JAXA astronaut Kimiya Yui, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Platonov comprise Crew 11.

“Yesterday, January 7th, a single crew member on board the station experienced a medical situation and is now stable. After discussions with Chief Health and Medical Officer Dr. J.D. Polk and leadership across the agency, I’ve come to the decision that it’s in the best interest of our astronauts to return Crew 11 ahead of their planned departure within the coming days.”

— NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman

Regarding the specifics of when Crew 11 will return, Isaacman added that, “We expect to provide a further update within the next 48 hours as to the expected anticipated undock and reentry timeline.” That’s Saturday afternoon. Stay tuned.

Crew 11 launched on August 1, 2025 and has spent 160 days in space since then. Originally planned to return next month after the arrival and handoff to Crew 12, which had planned to launch in mid-February.

Later, Isaacman said plainly, “This is not an emergency deorbit. We retain the capability to bring astronauts home in a matter of hours if necessary. So this is recognizing, first of all, we’re always going to do the right thing for our astronauts, but it’s recognizing it’s the end of the Crew 11 mission right now.”

Jared Isaacman, January 8, 2026. Via NASA Stream

So, one of the four astronauts has a serious enough issue to require testing or treatment on Earth, but it is not an immediate life-or-death emergency requiring Crew 11 to return to Earth with all possible haste. Instead, NASA is moving the timeline up for Crew 11’s return as a matter of prudence for one of its astronauts (or cosmonauts).

Once Crew 11 and Crew Dragon departs, ISS would be down to a skeleton crew: Sergey Kud-Sverchkov and Sergei Mikaev from Roscosmos and NASA’s Chris Williams. They would have only the Soyuz MS-28 spacecraft that docked on Nov. 27, 2025 as a return vehicle.

NASA is looking at accelerating the Crew 12 launch, but no new target date has been announced. “Alongside our international and commercial partners, NASA is evaluating their timeline to include earlier launch opportunities. We will provide more information when it’s available,” Isaacman announced.

What About Artemis II? Could This Issue Create A Delay?

Crew 12 is slated to fly in mid-February from The Cape, and launching earlier might have NASA preparing to launch two different crews on two entirely different missions in a very short timespan: Artemis II is currently scheduled to fly in early February. Launching Crew 12 earlier puts the two closer together on the calendar.

Asked if that would create a conflict within the agency, Isaacman replied to CBS News’s Bill Harwood that “These are totally separate campaigns at this point. We’re still evaluating what earlier dates would be achievable, if any, for Crew 12. So right now we’re going to look at all operations, all of our all of our standard process[es] to prepare for Crew 12 and look for opportunities if we can bring it in while simultaneously conducting our Artemis II campaign.”

Isaacman added that “There’s no reason to believe at this point in time that there would be any overlap that we’d have to de-conflict for.”

Crew 11’s motto is “Together We Rise.”

There is much more to come with this story.

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