Artemis II launch: Nasa’s Orion spacecraft set to blast off for a 10-day journey around the moon – live updates

Follow latest updates, including how to watch the scheduled launch at 6.24pm ET, as four astronauts prepare to set off on a 10-day, 685,000-mile journey with millions watching

Crowds gather for glimpse of historic Nasa moon mission

There’s potentially alarming news from AccuWeather about a solar flare, which the forecasting service says could affect the Artemis mission.

While not an official Nasa source for weather and climate information or predictions, AccuWeather has been monitoring launch day conditions, and is reporting them on its own blog.

An X1.5 solar flare that occurred early on March 30 produced an Earth-directed coronal mass ejection that is now entering into the Earth’s atmosphere. As the day progresses, moderate to strong geomagnetic storm conditions are possible as a result of the coronal mass ejection impacting Earth’s atmosphere.

Communication between ground control and members aboard the rocket, and precise GPS tracking, can be at risk during strong geomagnetic storming.