WASHINGTON, Feb. 20, 2026 — NASA said it is targeting March 6 for the Artemis II crewed lunar flyby after a successful fueling test, officials said.
The wet dress rehearsal loaded about 730,000 gallons of propellant without the hydrogen leaks that disrupted an earlier run.
Wet dress rehearsal clears hurdle
NASA said teams completed two terminal count runs, practiced closing Orion’s hatches and monitored fueling operations during the test, according to the agency’s recap, and details shared by Space.com.
An earlier Feb. 2 attempt was halted by a liquid-hydrogen leak at the tail service mast umbilical, and replacement seals held during this week’s test, Space.com reported, echoing accounts from NPR.
What remains before liftoff
Officials said remaining work includes testing the flight termination system and conducting a flight readiness review that could still shift the date, according to Reuters, and Space.com.
NASA said the crew will begin a roughly two-week quarantine to preserve flexibility in the March launch window, the agency noted, while Space.com reported the current window runs March 6–9 and March 10.
Crew and mission goals
Artemis II will carry Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen on an approximately 10-day trip around the Moon and back, NASA said, with mission details summarized by Space.com.
The mission will be the first crewed flight beyond low Earth orbit since Apollo 17 in 1972 and will test the Space Launch System and Orion for deep-space operations, Space.com noted, alongside NASA’s Artemis II mission overview.
NASA says the Artemis program is intended to enable sustained lunar exploration and pave the way for eventual crewed missions to Mars, as described by the agency.
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Image: “Full Moon over Artemis II” (NASA/Sam Lott). Source: https://www.nasa.gov/image-article/full-moon-over-artemis-ii/ (direct file: https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/artemis-ii-at-the-pad-full-snow-moon-02012026-2orig.jpg). License: NASA images are generally public domain (U.S. government work); see https://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/guidelines/index.html. Modifications: cropped and resized to 1920×1080 (16:9).
