CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Artemis II, the Space Launch System rocket, is scheduled to launch Wednesday.
The mission follows the success of Artemis I in 2022.
West Virginia native and Rocket Boys author Homer Hickam appeared on MetroNews Midday on Tuesday to discuss the upcoming launch.
He said the mission will be the first crewed flight of the Artemis program.
The crew will include four members: Commander Reid Wiseman, Pilot Victor Glover, and mission specialists Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen, who will travel aboard the Orion capsule.
Hickam said the program has recently undergone reorganization by NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman as part of a broader effort to establish a base or outpost on the Moon.
He noted that although the launch was planned prior to the reorganization, it remains necessary to ensure the Space Launch System performs as intended.
Hickam added that the rocket is experimental.
“We hope that everything goes well and I think it will, but I think there will probably be a few glitches along the way and we’re going to learn an awful lot during the process,” he said.
Hickam said the mission will be a free-flight trajectory, meaning the spacecraft will not enter lunar orbit but will instead fly around the Moon and return to Earth. The trip is expected to take 10 days.
He added that the crew is prepared for the mission due to multiple launch delays.
“They are extremely well trained besides being motivated, they’ve gone through dozens of simulations with mission control, but there’s going to be a lot of lessons learned along the way and that’s why this flight is really important,” Hickam said.
He said he expects the system to be tested multiple times to ensure it functions properly before moving on to future rockets and missions.
“They’ll probably fly the SLS three times, maybe four, but then we’ll go to either the Starship or the new Glen that Blue Origin builds and we’ll find space flights a lot more economical,” Hickam said. “And it will be happening every week, there will be something flying up to the moon so it’s just going to be a new way of looking at space.”
Some of the aluminum-lithium used for the rocket’s plates was supplied by Constellium, a company based in Ravenswood that produces rolled aluminum products.
Artemis II’s launch window is scheduled between 6:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. Wednesday.