Artemis II Launch LCC Firing Rooms I and II Activities

From left to right, Eric Gore, chief engineer; John Blevins, Space Launch System chief engineer; and Ronald Baccus, Orion chief engineer, each from NASA’s Exploration Ground Systems Program, pose for a photograph inside Firing Room 1 of the Rocco Petrone Launch Control Center following the launch of the Artemis II test flight on Wednesday, April 1, 2026. The tie-cutting is a NASA tradition those who have a new role launch. The Artemis II mission launched Commander Reid Wiseman, Pilot Victor Glover, and Mission Specialist Christina Koch from NASA, and Mission Specialist Jeremy Hansen from the CSA (Canadian Space Agency), aboard NASA’s SLS (Space Launch System) rocket and Orion spacecraft to journey for 10 days around the Moon and back to Earth.