Tonight NASA conducts a full fueling and countdown simulation of the Artemis II rocket at Kennedy Space Center, a decisive step before sending humans back toward the Moon for the first time in more than half a century. For Colombia, the test also marks a milestone, with aerospace engineer Liliana Villarreal assuming a key leadership role in the mission’s landing and recovery phase.
Operations for the wet dress rehearsal began about 49 hours before the simulated liftoff, when launch teams were called to their stations to power up and configure the Space Launch System and Orion spacecraft. The rehearsal will run a full countdown to a mock launch at 9:00 p.m. EST, with the option of extending procedures into the early hours of Sunday if needed.
Simulated launch puts rocket and ground teams to the test
During the test, engineers will load more than 700,000 gallons of cryogenic propellants into the rocket, demonstrate their ability to manage holds and resumptions in the final minutes, and then safely drain the tanks without any astronauts on board. The exercise replicates the pressure of launch day and checks that both hardware and ground procedures meet the standards required for human spaceflight.
NASA explains that the first run of the countdown will proceed until 1 minute and 30 seconds before the simulated launch, followed by a planned three‑minute pause, before resuming to 33 seconds, when the rocket’s automatic sequencer takes control of the final steps. Several cycles are scheduled to test different scenarios, including recycled countdowns and technical interventions in the so‑called terminal count.
Meanwhile, teams will monitor subsystems on Orion, including the potable‑water circuit, where past tests revealed higher‑than‑expected organic‑carbon levels, to ensure that life‑support systems meet safety requirements for the four‑person crew. In reality, the wet dress rehearsal is the last chance to identify anomalies before setting a firm launch date in February.
Artemis II: A 10‑day flight to the far side of the Moon
Artemis II is designed as a roughly 10‑day mission to validate the performance of the Space Launch System and Orion with astronauts aboard in deep space. The flight will send the crew on a free‑return trajectory around the Moon, including a pass over the lunar far side to image impact craters and ancient lava flows that could guide future landings near the south pole.
On board will be NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch, together with Canadian Jeremy Hansen, forming the first crew to travel beyond low Earth orbit since Apollo 17 in 1972. Throughout the mission, they will collect saliva samples, wear wrist sensors that record movement and sleep patterns, and provide other biomedical data to the Human Research Program to understand how deep‑space travel affects body and mind.
The launch window currently opens no earlier than 8 February 2026, with additional opportunities through 11 February, although NASA has indicated that the exact date will depend on the results of tonight’s fueling test and on weather at the Florida launch site. If Artemis II performs as expected, it will clear the way for Artemis III, the mission intended to land astronauts on the lunar surface again.
Colombian engineer Liliana Villarreal leads Artemis II mission’s return
For Colombians, Artemis II carries a special significance. Liliana Villarreal, born in Cartagena, currently serves as landing and recovery director for the mission within NASA’s Exploration Ground Systems program at Kennedy Space Center. She is responsible for directing all operations related to Orion’s splashdown in the Pacific and the safe extraction of the four astronauts, both in nominal and contingency scenarios.
Her team must locate the spacecraft, secure it, and recover crew and hardware in less than two hours after touchdown, a narrow window that demands precise coordination between NASA, the U.S. Navy and other support agencies. Villarreal’s leadership in this critical phase means that a Colombian engineer will sign off, in operational terms, on the successful completion of humanity’s next great step toward the Moon.
The truth is, the success of Artemis II will depend as much on what happens on the launch pad tonight as on what occurs in the ocean at the end of the mission. If the rehearsal proves the rocket ready and Colombia’s own Villarreal later guides the crew safely back to Earth, this mission will not only reopen the road to the lunar surface, it will also underline how Colombian talent has become part of the new chapter in human exploration.