Four astronauts who will become the first to fly to the moon in more than half a century have begun the quarantine process – a major sign that NASA believes the launch is imminent.
Being isolated from others over the next few days ensures that the three Americans and one Canadian selected for the Artemis 2 mission are at low risk of getting sick and jeopardizing the mission. The crew has gone into quarantine in Texas while NASA makes final preparations in Florida for the towering rocket that could lift off as early as February.
Artemis 2 is the second lunar mission under NASA’s multibillion-dollar lunar landing program and the first human mission to land on the moon since the end of the acclaimed Apollo era in 1972. While the mission will not land on the moon, the astronauts selected to fly Artemis 2 will help pave the way for Americans to return to the moon on follow-up missions in the coming years.
Here’s everything you need to know about when astronauts will enter quarantine and NASA’s next steps in preparing for the Artemis 2 rocket launch.
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Who will participate in the Artemis 2 mission? Astronauts enter quarantine
The Artemis 2 crew poses in front of the Orion simulator at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston on January 23, 2026.
The Artemis 2 crew – NASA astronauts Reed Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch, and the Canadian Space Agency’s Jeremy Hansen – all entered quarantine on Friday, January 23, according to NASA.
Quarantine is protocol before any manned spaceflight to ensure astronauts do not contract any diseases that could delay the upcoming mission.
Artemis 2 astronauts have begun a quarantine period at Johnson Space Center in Houston before flying to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida about six days before launch – assuming all pre-launch testing goes as planned.
The astronauts will have to avoid public places, but they are by no means alone. Friends, family and co-workers can still visit if they follow certain guidelines to avoid contracting and spreading the disease.
In the coming days, Artemis 2 astronauts will also undergo extensive training and preparation work, including mission simulations and medical examinations.
When is the Artemis 2 rocket launch date?
The Space Launch System (SLS) will launch from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida as early as February 6 and as late as April 6, pushing the Orion capsule carrying Artemis 2 astronauts to the moon.
While NASA has yet to set an official launch date, the agency said in a Jan. 23 blog post that “beginning quarantine now preserves flexibility as the team works to identify potential opportunities during the February launch period.”
NASA prepares for wet rehearsal of Space Launch System rocket
Banners signed by NASA employees and contractors line the perimeter fence of Launch Complex 39B after the launch of NASA’s Artemis 2 Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion spacecraft to the launch pad at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
An official launch date also won’t be set until NASA conducts what’s known as a wet dress rehearsal and the mission team completes a flight readiness review.
Pre-launch testing, which could take place as early as February 2, includes a simulated launch countdown and feeding 700,000 gallons of cryogenic propellant to the rocket and then draining it.
Ahead of the test, teams on the ground continue to analyze and prepare for launch of the Orion capsule and the towering Space Launch System, both of which were stacked and rolled out to the launch pad on January 17. In California, the team is also finalizing plans to recover the astronauts in the Pacific Ocean, where they will conduct a water landing in the Orion capsule upon completion of the mission, according to NASA.
Artemis 2 won’t land on the moon, but it will orbit it
The astronauts will not land on the moon, but will undertake a 10-day trip around the moon to test systems and hardware for future expeditions to the lunar surface. The Orion capsule (manufactured by Lockheed Martin) that the crew will fly will fly some 4,700 miles past the far side of the moon, taking its passengers to the farthest point in space before returning to Earth.
The mission comes more than three years after Artemis 1 launched from the Kennedy Space Center on November 16, 2022, and in its first test, the Orion capsule performed a lunar orbit mission without a crew.
The moon landing will take place during Artemis 3, which President Donald Trump has said he wants to see done before the end of his second term.
Why is NASA interested in the moon? What you need to know about Artemis
NASA’s Artemis program is the agency’s ambitious plan to return Americans to the lunar surface for the first time since the end of the Apollo era in 1972.
Over the next few years, NASA’s Artemis program aims to launch a series of crewed missions to establish human settlements and establish a sustained human presence at the lunar south pole. There the region’s abundant water ice could be extracted and used for drinking, breathing and as a source of hydrogen and oxygen for rocket fuel.
From there, the lunar settlement will serve as a base of operations to enable the first manned space mission to Mars.
Eric Lagatta is Space Connect reporter for the USA TODAY Network. Contact him at elagatta@gannett.com
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Astronauts enter quarantine ahead of NASA Artemis rocket launch