Artemis II crewed mission to the Moon

Artemis II is NASA’s first crewed mission to the Moon since 1972, set to launch 1 April 2026. The 10-day mission will carry NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch, along with Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen, on a free-return trajectory around the Moon and back to Earth. Glover will become the first person of color, Koch the first woman, and Hansen the first person not from the United States to reach deep space and the Moon’s vicinity. The flight is set to take the crew farther from Earth than any previous crewed mission, before reentering Earth’s atmosphere at a record speed of approximately 25,000 miles per hour (40,000 km/h). (NASA)

(NASA Photo)

Artemis II on the launch pad, March 2026.

Artemis II aims to validate the systems and hardware necessary for future human lunar exploration. This mission will test the Orion spacecraft and the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket in a crewed environment, confirming that all systems operate as designed in deep space. The mission will not land on the Moon but will conduct a free-return trajectory around it, allowing the crew to experience deep-space conditions and test life support, navigation, and communication systems.

Artemis II is a critical step in NASA’s Artemis program, which aims to establish a sustainable human presence on the Moon and eventually prepare for future missions to Mars. This mission builds on the success of the uncrewed Artemis I mission, which tested the SLS and Orion systems in 2022. Artemis II represents a significant milestone in human space exploration, paving the way for future lunar missions and enhancing international collaboration in space endeavors. (NASA)

(NASA Photo)

The Artemis II crew consists of four astronauts:

• Reid Wiseman(NASA)
• Victor Glover(NASA)
• Christina Koch(NASA)
• Jeremy Hansen (Canadian Space Agency), marking him as the first Canadian to participate in a mission around the Moon.

(NASA Photo)

(NASA Photo, Cory Huston)

NASA’s crawler-transporter 2, carrying the agency’s Artemis II SLS (Space Launch System) rocket with the Orion spacecraft, arrives Feb. 25, 2026, inside the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida to troubleshoot the flow of helium to the rocket’s upper stage, the interim cryogenic propulsion stage. Once complete, the SLS rocket will roll back to Launch Complex 39B to prepare to launch four astronauts around the Moon and back for the Artemis II test flight.