NASA begins a practice countdown for its first moonshot with astronauts in more than 50 years
January 31, 2026
NASA has begun a two-day practice countdown for its first moonshot with astronauts in 53 years. The dress rehearsal that started Saturday night will culminate with the fueling of the space agency’s new moon rocket. It is a crucial test that will determine when four astronauts blast off on their lunar flyby. If everything goes well with Monday’s fueling test, NASA could launch within a week. Teams will fill the rocket with more than 700,000 gallons of super-cold fuel, stopping half a minute short of when the engines would light. The countdown was delayed two days by a bitter cold spell. Feb. 8 is now the earliest the rocket could launch.