Photo: Joe Raedle / Getty Images News / Getty Images
(Cape Canaveral, FL) -- The Artemis II test flight around the moon could launch as early as April 1st.
NASA announced the new target date Thursday after its latest flight readiness review for the manned mission.
NASA officials say they are "targeting Thursday, March 19, to roll the SLS (Space Launch System) rocket and Orion spacecraft to launch pad 39B in advance of a launch attempt Wednesday, April 1, pending close out of remaining open work."
NASA had planned to launch Artemis II earlier this month but rescheduled after engineers found a helium leak in the fueling system.
Officials say the leak has been fixed and the new launch window is April 1st through the 6th.
This would be the first crewed mission to the moon since Apollo 17 in 1972.