NASA conducted a second wet dress rehearsal to verify hydrogen leak repairs on the Artemis II rocket
The practice countdown began Tuesday with fueling starting Thursday morning
Artemis II crew will enter quarantine Friday targeting a March 6 launch
The mission will be the first piloted moon flight since 1972 and a step toward Artemis III moon landing in 2028
📖 Full Retelling
NASA engineers loaded more than 750,000 gallons of supercold propellants into the agency's Space Launch System rocket on Thursday, February 19, 2026, in a second 'wet dress rehearsal' to verify repairs of hydrogen leaks detected during an initial fueling test earlier in the month. The practice countdown began Tuesday night, kicking off a carefully choreographed series of steps to ready the world's most powerful operational rocket for a simulated launch Thursday at 8:30 p.m. EST. Controllers planned to carry out additional tests to ensure the team can recycle, hold and restart an actual launch countdown as needed to handle unexpected problems that might arise during a real launch attempt. The initial stages of the rehearsal countdown progressed smoothly, with Launch Director Charlie-Blackwell Thompson giving her 'go' at 9:35 a.m. to begin the multi-hour process of loading 196,000 gallons of liquid oxygen and 537,000 gallons of liquid hydrogen fuel into the SLS rocket's first stage, with the second stage holding another 22,500 gallons of propellant. If no major problems are detected, Artemis II commander Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen will enter pre-flight medical quarantine Friday, targeting a launch as early as March 6 for a historic flight around the far side of the moon, marking the first piloted lunar mission since 1972 and carrying the crew farther from Earth than any astronauts in space history. The mission represents a significant milestone as the crew will be the first to fly aboard the 322-foot-tall Space Launch System rocket on only its second flight and the first to ride in an Orion deep space crew capsule, while also serving as a crucial step toward the follow-on Artemis III mission to land astronauts near the moon's south pole in 2028.
🏷️ Themes
Space Exploration, NASA Missions, Rocket Technology
Artemis II is a planned lunar spaceflight mission under the Artemis program, led by NASA. It is intended to be the second flight of the Space Launch System (SLS), and the first crewed mission of the Orion spacecraft. It is the first crewed mission around the Moon, and beyond low Earth orbit, since A...
Preparation procedures for verifying carrier rocket performance
Launch vehicle system tests assess the readiness of a launch system to safely reach orbit. Launch vehicles undergo system tests before they launch. Wet dress rehearsals (WDR) and more extensive static fire tests prepare fully assembled launch vehicles and their associated ground support equipment (...
The Space Launch System (SLS) is an American super heavy-lift expendable launch vehicle used by NASA. As the primary launch vehicle of the Artemis Moon landing program, SLS is designed to launch the crewed Orion spacecraft on a trans-lunar trajectory. SLS first launched on 16 November 2022 for the u...
Space Artemis II moon rocket refueled in practice countdown setting stage for historic flight By William Harwood William Harwood CBS News Space Consultant Bill Harwood has been covering the U.S. space program full-time since 1984, first as Cape Canaveral bureau chief for United Press International and now as a consultant for CBS News. Read Full Bio William Harwood February 19, 2026 / 11:17 AM EST / CBS News Add CBS News on Google NASA cleared engineers to load more than 750,000 gallons of supercold propellants into the agency's huge Space Launch System rocket Thursday in a second "wet dress rehearsal" countdown to verify leak repairs and clear the way for a flight to the moon as early as March 6. The practice countdown began Tuesday night, kicking off a carefully choreographed series of steps to ready the world's most powerful operational rocket for a simulated launch Thursday at 8:30 p.m. EST. Controllers then planned to carry out additional tests to make sure the team can recycle, hold and restart an actual launch countdown as needed to handle unexpected problems. The initial stages of the rehearsal countdown went well and at 9:35 a.m., Launch Director Charlie-Blackwell Thompson gave her "go" to begin the multi-hour process of loading 196,000 gallons of liquid oxygen and 537,000 gallons of liquid hydrogen fuel into the SLS rocket's first stage. The rocket's second stage holds another 22,500 gallons of propellant. If no out-of-limits leaks or other major problems are detected, Artemis II commander Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen will go into pre-flight medical quarantine Friday, aiming for launch on a flight around the far side of the moon as early as March 6. It will be the first piloted flight to the moon since the final Apollo landing in 1972, carrying the crew farther from Earth than any astronauts in space history. Wiseman and his crewmates will also be the first to ride into space atop the 322-foot-tall Space L...
