"Artemis II commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, and mission specialist Christina Koch (all with NASA) and mission specialist Jeremy Hansen, an astronaut with the Canadian Space Agency, began the rehearsal at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, proceeding as they will when they are ready to fly next year (the Artemis II launch is slated for no earlier than the first week of February and no later than April 2026)."
"Airstream's Atlas Touring Coach, though, was not originally planned as NASA's Artemis CTV. In July 2023, NASA took delivery of three fully electric vans from Canoo Technologies after the company, a startup based in Torrance, California, was awarded the contract the year before. At the time, NASA touted its selection as focusing on the "crews' safety and comfort on the way to the [launch] pad.""
NASA's Artemis II crew performed a full practice launch countdown on December 20 at Kennedy Space Center and used a crew transport vehicle to rehearse pad procedures. The crew comprised commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, mission specialist Christina Koch (NASA) and mission specialist Jeremy Hansen (Canadian Space Agency). The rehearsal mirrored planned launch operations during the no-earlier-than February to no-later-than April 2026 flight window. The crew rode "Astrovan II," a modified Airstream Atlas Touring Coach wrapped with mission graphics. NASA had taken delivery of three Canoo electric vans in July 2023 but ceased active use after Canoo filed for bankruptcy and shifted to a Boeing CTV.
Read at Ars Technica
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