Countdown to the Moon 🔴

The countdown has begun. Tonight, NASA will attempt to launch Artemis 2, the first manned lunar mission since the Apollo era. This historic mission will send four astronauts on a trip around the Moon and back again—you won’t want to miss a moment of it.

Ground teams at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida are in the midst of final preparations, targeting a launch window that will open at 6:24 p.m. ET today and remain open for two hours. Gizmodo will be following you throughout the day to bring you the latest updates on the countdown proceedings, crew and more. To watch the launch live, visit our watch page.

At T-0, NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket will launch the Orion spacecraft and its crew – including NASA’s Reed Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and the Canadian Space Agency’s Jeremy Hansen – into low-Earth orbit. About 25 hours after launch, Orion will set course for the Moon. It will be the first time astronauts have departed from low-Earth orbit in 54 years, and this time, they’re going deeper into space than ever before.