NASA is facing both challenges and excitement with overlapping missions: Artemis 2, which aims to orbit the moon, and SpaceX’s Crew-12 mission to the International Space Station (ISS). The recent Arctic cold front has disrupted schedules, pushing Crew-12’s launch to February 11 from Cape Canaveral to address the early return of Crew-11 due to a medical issue.
Artemis 2, featuring astronauts Reed Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen, is significant as it marks the first manned lunar mission since Apollo 17 in 1972. Its success relies on a critical wet dress rehearsal scheduled for January 31, which, if successful, can affect Crew-12’s timeline.
NASA’s Commercial Crew Program manager, Steve Stich, detailed scenarios that could shift Crew-12’s launch, emphasizing how both missions have shared resources. SpaceX’s Crew-12 will transport astronauts Jessica Meir, Jack Hathaway, European astronaut Sophie Adenot, and Russian cosmonaut Andrei Fezyaev to the ISS for eight months, contributing to important ongoing scientific research.
As both missions near, Crew-12 astronauts are currently in quarantine and will be flown to Kennedy Space Center. Their launch timing is contingent on the outcomes of Artemis 2’s tests, highlighting NASA’s progress in human spaceflight and the complexities of managing simultaneous missions.
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