March 30 (UPI) -- NASA officials on Monday started the two-day countdown to the Artemis II mission launch, which will send a crew of four around the moon as they test the Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft.
After canceling a launch attempt in February because of a helium valve concern, officials said that the only thing they are worried about ahead of Wednesday's launch is the weather -- and the forecast offers an 80% chance for the right conditions.
The 10-day mission, which will take the crew farther from Earth than any human before, is the next step in the agency's goal of returning humans to the surface of the moon and establishing a permanent presence there.
With mission engineers starting the clock, the crew -- Mission Specialist Jeremy Hansen, Mission Specialist Christina Koch, Commander Reid Wiseman and Pilot Victor Glover -- are getting some rest and spending time with their families before starting their own pre-launch activities, officials said.
"The team concluded that everything continues to look good and there are no issues preventing us from pressing ahead," NASA's Associate Administrator Amit Kshatriya said during a media briefing from Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
