Yes, NASA's launching Artemis 2 astronauts to the moon on April Fools' Day. It's not a joke.

Click for next article (Image credit: Future/Josh Dinner) Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Reddit Pinterest Flipboard Email Share this article 0 Join the conversation Follow us Add us as a preferred source on Google Newsletter Get the Space.com Newsletter Breaking space news, the latest updates on rocket launches, skywatching events and more! By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over. You are now subscribed Your newsletter sign-up was successful Want to add more newsletters? An account already exists for this email address, please log in. Subscribe to our newsletter CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — NASA test director Jeff Spaulding does not want to hear jokes on April Fools' Day. He doesn't want pranks. He just wants to send people to the moon. This is not a punchline. NASA is counting down to launch four astronauts around the moon on Artemis 2, a 10-day trip that will lift off a bit before sunset tomorrow, which is April 1 — a holiday for pranksters. But NASA is staying serious. "So I am not aware of any pranks or any attempts to pull anything on the flight crew, or on the launch team itself, so I think I'll just leave it at that," Spaulding told reporters here at the launch pad. "I'm hoping that we just stay focused on the launch tomorrow ." NASA's Artemis 2 mission is scheduled to lift off from Pad 39B here at the Kennedy Space Center at 6:24 p.m. EDT (2224 GMT). The weather looks promising, with an 80% chance of good conditions at launch time. The countdown clock is already ticking down toward the launch, with NASA's livestream set to go live at 12:50 p.m. EDT (1650 GMT). You'll be able to watch it live on Space.com and follow our live Artemis 2 mission updates . Artemis 2 will launch NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen around the moon in the first crewed flight test of NASA's Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft . If the flight goes smoothly, Artemis 2 will pave the way for NASA's eventual Artemis 4 moon landing by astronauts in 2028. The space agency wants to start building a permanent moon base by 2032. "We are going back," NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman wrote on social media Monday (March 30). Isaacman unveiled an ambitious schedule of moon landings and launches for the Artemis program last week in NASA's Ignition event at its headquarters in Washington, D.C. Get the Space.com Newsletter Breaking space news, the latest updates on rocket launches, skywatching events and more! The Artemis 2 mission's Space Launch System rocket upright on its mobile launch tower at Launch Complex 39B at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. (Image credit: Future/Josh Dinner) The run-up to the Artemis 2 launch has appeared extremely smooth, compared with the hiccups and glitches that seemed legion during NASA's Artemis 1 uncrewed test flight in 2022. "You get to a point where you have found and corrected as many thin