Editor’s Note: This advisory was updated on Feb. 24 to note the new start time for the media teleconference of 2:30 p.m. EST.
NASA will host a media teleconference at 2:30 p.m. EST on Thursday, Feb. 24, to provide an update on progress toward the launch of the agency’s uncrewed Artemis I mission.
Artemis engineers are working through final closeout tasks for the launch, as well as integrated testing before the rocket rolls out to the pad at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida for the first time in mid-March.
Audio of the teleconference will stream live online at:
Participating in the briefing are:
- Tom Whitmeyer, deputy associate administrator for exploration systems development, NASA Headquarters
- Mike Bolger, Exploration Ground Systems program manager, Kennedy
- Mike Sarafin, Artemis I mission manager, NASA Headquarters
To participate in the call, media must RSVP by at least two hours prior to the event to Madison Tuttle at: madison.e.tuttle@nasa.gov.
The agency will roll the combined Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft out of the Vehicle Assembly Building to Launch Pad 39B at Kennedy for testing next month. This final test, known as the wet dress rehearsal, will run the launch team through operations to load propellant into the rocket’s tanks and conduct a full launch countdown. Following a successful rehearsal, NASA will roll the rocket stack back into the Vehicle Assembly Building for final checks and set an official target date for launch.
Through Artemis missions, NASA will land the first woman and the first person of color on the surface of the Moon, paving the way for a long-term lunar presence and serving as a steppingstone on the way to Mars.
Learn more about NASA’s Artemis I mission at:
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Kathryn Hambleton
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1100
kathryn.hambleton@nasa.gov