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NASA’s Artemis II Mission Poised for Historic Crewed Lunar Flyby Launch

Success with Artemis II will clear the path for Artemis III, the first crewed lunar landing since 1972

Tommy FlynnTommy Flynn
NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Artemis II commander; Victor Glover, Artemis II pilot; Christina Koch. and CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut Jeremy Hansen pose in front of the Artemis in January.
NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Artemis II commander; Victor Glover, Artemis II pilot; Christina Koch. and CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut Jeremy Hansen pose in front of the Artemis in January.

WASHINGTON – NASA’s Artemis II mission, scheduled to launch no earlier than April 1, 2026, will send four astronauts farther from Earth than any humans have traveled since the final Apollo mission in 1972.

The crew — NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman (commander), Victor Glover (pilot), and Christina Koch (mission specialist), along with Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen — will fly the Orion spacecraft on a 10-day lunar flyby. During the mission, they will reach approximately 6,000 miles beyond the far side of the Moon, setting a new record for the farthest distance humans have traveled from Earth in over five decades.

Artemis II Mission graphic
The Artemis II crew will travel further from earth than any humans before them.

This distance surpasses the previous record set by Apollo 13 in 1970. The flight will test Orion’s life-support systems, communications, navigation, and heat shield performance in the high-radiation environment of cislunar space.

The mission marks several historic firsts:

  • First crewed flight of NASA’s Artemis program
  • First woman (Christina Koch) to travel beyond low-Earth orbit
  • First Canadian (Jeremy Hansen) to fly beyond low-Earth orbit
  • First Black astronaut (Victor Glover) on a lunar trajectory

Artemis II serves as the critical crewed test flight following the successful uncrewed Artemis I mission in 2022. Upon retaking office in January 2025, President Donald Trump made returning Americans to the Moon a top national priority. He directed NASA to accelerate the Artemis program, emphasizing American leadership in space and the need to stay ahead of China’s lunar ambitions. The administration’s focus has kept the program on track despite earlier delays.

Success with Artemis II will clear the path for Artemis III, the first crewed lunar landing since 1972, currently targeted for no earlier than 2027, and lay groundwork for a sustained lunar presence as a stepping stone to Mars.

Launch is scheduled for no earlier than 6:24 p.m. EDT from Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Pad 39B aboard the Space Launch System rocket. The mission underscores America’s renewed commitment to human exploration beyond low-Earth orbit under the Trump administration’s leadership.