Artemis II launch: NASA astronauts now sealed inside spacecraft ahead of scheduled flight around the moon

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Artemis II crew enter spacecraft

Artemis II crew members — Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen and NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch — have entered the Orion spacecraft after arriving at the launch pad.

NASA is getting ready to launch four astronauts, including Canada's Jeremy Hansen, on a 10-day flight around the moon and back. 

Hansen, Commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover and mission specialist Christina Koch have entered the Orion capsule on top of the giant Space Launch System rocket at Launch Pad 39B at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla.

Artemis II is set to take astronauts farther from Earth than any previous human spaceflight. If the mission is successful, the flight could lay the groundwork for future missions to the surface of the moon.

The first of the launch windows runs today from 6:24 p.m. To 8:24 p.m. ET. If today's liftoff is called down, there will be subsequent opportunities every night until Monday.

We'll have live coverage here on this page. In the meantime:

A few minutes ago, the close-out team finished securing the last hatch of the spacecraft — the launch abort system hatch, to be specific — another major step ahead of liftoff. 

The launch abort system hatch provides an added protective barrier for the astronauts and enables a rapid escape if something goes wrong, NASA's website says. 

Last fall, at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, NASA held a media day during which we had a chance to meet with the astronauts, as well as ask NASA anything at all about the mission.

I got to ask a few questions at one of the briefings — including how NASA will measure the success of the Artemis II mission.

The answer? "Taking our crew back to the moon and bringing them home safely," said Artemis II flight director Jeff Radigan.

Put another way, it's that they come home alive. It underlines the risk inherent in everything that's about to play out.

As NASA reminded us all on that day, the dangers in leaving the relative safety of our planet can never be taken for granted.

This came up at a news conference with NASA officials this week, and there were multiple parts to their answer.

If the crew is in orbit and something seems amiss, they can choose to not go beyond that distance and still get home safely. 

If they've left orbit and the Orion capsule is headed through space, they can still turn around right then and there to come home. 

The only way they'd continue forward, should trouble strike, is if they were so close to the moon that it'd be faster and easier to continue around it and slingshot home.

Bottom line: there are multiple ways to abort the mission if something goes wrong. Fingers crossed none of them get tested in real life.

It's not something we like to think about, but launching into space is very dangerous.

Essentially, astronauts are sitting atop a rocket experiencing a controlled explosion. Sadly, we know tragedies happen, like the loss of the space shuttle Challenger in 1986. 

But space agencies do have contingency plans should there be an issue with the rocket. One example is the launch of a Soyuz rocket in Kazakhstan in 2018. Less than two minutes after launching NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Russian cosmonaut Alexei Ovchinin, the rocket failed. But their capsule jettisoned, and the pair landed safely.

Orion has a similar launch abort system that has been heavily tested. So, should something happen soon after launch, the spacecraft would separate from the SLS to safety.

And should something happen before that, the mobile launcher on which the SLS sits includes an "emergency egress" system — like a cross between a gondola and a zip line — that would whisk the astronauts to safety near the pad perimeter.

WATCH | A look inside one of the emergency egress baskets at Launch Pad 39B:

Earlier, a potentially major issue was identified related to the flight termination system that could have delayed launch, NASA said. 

The launch would not be able to go ahead without confirmation that this system would work as needed, but the issue has since been resolved and the countdown is still underway. 

The Orion capsule is just 3.35 metres high and five metres in diameter, with a habitable volume of 9.34 square metres. That's some tight quarters for four people on a nearly 10-day trip. I hope everyone packed deodorant.

Our colleagues dug deeper into what it's like living in Orion — which can theoretically support a 21-day mission — on an extended stay in deep space.

There's about 90 minutes to go before the launch window opens. 

Just after 3 p.m. ET, the mission's close-out team began preparing and closing the crew module hatch of the Orion spacecraft, according to NASA's website. One of the most critical steps ahead of the launch, this process makes sure the spacecraft is fully pressurized and ready for flight.

We spoke with Canadian astronaut Joshua Kutryk on the lawn of Florida's Kennedy Space Center. Kutryk is not part of the mission but is here observing.

He said it's only natural for Hansen to have "some nerves" before an event of this magnitude.

"Of course, he's going to have some nerves," he said. "If you go and you stand on that gangplank on the way into the rocket — it's 100 metres in the air, and below you, you see the entire coast of Florida. But you also see the most powerful human transportation system that has ever existed. 

"You have to think about what that feels like to climb in, put all the seatbelts on, and then have everybody else leave — until it's just the four of you, that crew, atop this amazing machine."

Ahead of the launch, Hansen shared a heartfelt message to Canadians in both English and French. 

"Canada, I am thinking of you and I am hoping you see your greatness reflected in this journey around the moon," he said in a video posted a few hours ago.  

"I'm just so proud of all of you." 

One last message before the launch of Artemis II... <a href="https://t.co/IpmYBKrhu7">pic.twitter.com/IpmYBKrhu7</a>

I've interviewed Hansen a number of times over the years, and I've always liked these words he shared.

"I think it's extraordinary that we're the second country in the world to send a human into deep space. And I want to reflect that back on Canadians and just use this [trip] to remind them, 'Hey, we do already do extraordinary things,'" he told me during training in Houston last fall.

"And if we're doing this — imagine what we can do next?"

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