The times and months roll by, you’re watching a brand new video from one of many Artemis II crew, and he says one thing that makes you sit up.

“We’re two-and-a-half months from our first potential launch time,” NASA astronaut Reid Wiseman mentioned in his weekly replace from the Johnson House Heart in Texas, the place he and fellow NASA astronauts Victor Glover and Christina Koch, together with Canadian House Company astronaut Jeremy Hansen, have been in coaching since once they have been announced as part of the crew in 2023.

Sure, that’s proper — people may very well be heading to the moon once more as early as February 2026.

Within the crew’s newest weekly replace, shared on X on Tuesday, Wiseman mentioned that with the launch presumably simply across the nook, “We undoubtedly really feel the stress approaching, the workforce are preparing and we’re honing our abilities.”

The American astronaut delivered his replace from the inside of a mock-up of the Orion spacecraft that may take them on a 10-day voyage across the moon.

Wiseman additionally confirmed off the crew’s trusty Nikon D5 DSLR digital camera that may seize historic pictures of their journey to Earth’s nearest neighbor.

The crew received’t be touchdown on the lunar floor, however their mission paves the best way for Artemis III, which is able to put the primary people on the moon for the reason that last Apollo mission in 1972. Artemis III is at the moment set for 2027, though that date might properly slip as NASA and its companions proceed with the complicated preparations for the much-anticipated mission.

NASA examined the Orion spacecraft within the Artemis I mission, which took place in 2022. The flight surfaced quite a lot of points with the capsule, which have been mounted for automobile’s first-ever crewed flight. The SLS rocket that may carry toe astronauts to area has additionally flown simply the as soon as, additionally within the Artemis I mission.

The preliminary Artemis missions are laying the foundations for a sustained human presence on the moon, together with building of the Gateway lunar space station and eventual crewed missions to Mars.

After all, it’s doable that the Artemis II crew received’t get away in February, with some suggesting a spring launch is extra doubtless. Both manner, it lastly feels just like the historic human flight is de facto about to occur.