NASA’s launch and mission teams, along with the Artemis II crew, completed a key test Dec. 20, a countdown demonstration test, ahead of the Artemis II flight around the Moon early next year.

A major step toward launch day is complete as NASA's Artemis II astronauts ran through a countdown demonstration test.

NASA’s Artemis II crew boarded the Orion spacecraft on December 20, 2025, for a countdown demonstration test, rehearsing launch-day procedures at Kennedy Space Center’s Vehicle Assembly Building.

NASA and the Artemis II crew complete a full countdown test as teams prepare for the first crewed mission around the Moon under the Artemis program ...