NASA's Artemis 1 mission closes the hatch on the Orion spacecraft

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The moon mission is buttoned up for launch on Monday (Aug. 29.)

huge artemis 1 rocket on the launch pad at night
The Artemis 1 megarocket stands ready for a moon launch at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. (Image credit: NASA/Joel Kowsky)

NASA's lunar spacecraft is sealed up for launch.

Artemis 1 technicians closed the door on the Orion spacecraft Thursday (Aug. 25) in preparation to launch to the moon on Monday (Aug. 29) atop the Space Launch System (SLS) megarocket.

"The crew module hatch was closed at approximately 3:30 a.m. Thursday," NASA stated in a blog post describing some of the last steps before liftoff from the agency's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

"Meteorologists with the U.S. Space Force Space Launch Delta 45 currently predict a 70% chance of favorable weather conditions for launch on Aug. 29," the agency added. Periodic rain showers remain the primary concern for launching on time at 8:33 a.m. EDT (1233 GMT), although the launch window does extend for two hours.

Related: NASA's Artemis 1 moon mission: Live updates
More: NASA's Artemis 1 moon mission explained in photos

Artemis 1 is the debut installment of the Artemis program, which aims to put astronauts around the moon in 2024 with Artemis 2 and upon the lunar surface in 2025 with Artemis 3. NASA is framing the program as an opportunity to test out technology, procedures and hardware ahead of bringing humans to Mars.

The uncrewed Artemis 1 will loop around the moon for an approximately 40-day mission to test the system's endurance against radiation, space weather, cold and other factors of the space environment ahead of certifying it for humans.

Related stories:

— NASA's Artemis program of lunar exploration 

— Artemis 1: Going back to the moon 

— For Artemis moon missions, science will reign supreme

The two-day countdown for Artemis 1 will begin on Sunday (Aug. 28) as the SLS rocket targets its first-ever launch. The booster, which is the most powerful NASA has yet built, has gone through numerous ground tests including a near 50-hour-long "wet dress rehearsal" fueling testing in June.

U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris will be among the attendees at the launch on Monday, her office confirmed in an exclusive to Space.com published Friday (Aug. 26). Harris will tour KSC and deliver a speech concerning NASA space leadership.

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Elizabeth Howell
Elizabeth Howell
Former Staff Writer, Spaceflight (July 2022-November 2024)

Elizabeth Howell (she/her), Ph.D., was a staff writer in the spaceflight channel between 2022 and 2024 specializing in Canadian space news. She was contributing writer for Space.com for 10 years from 2012 to 2024. Elizabeth's reporting includes multiple exclusives with the White House, leading world coverage about a lost-and-found space tomato on the International Space Station, witnessing five human spaceflight launches on two continents, flying parabolic, working inside a spacesuit, and participating in a simulated Mars mission. Her latest book, "Why Am I Taller?" (ECW Press, 2022) is co-written with astronaut Dave Williams.