What to Know About NASA’s Artemis II Mission to the Moon

On April 1, 2026, the Artemis II mission launched from the Kennedy Space Center. The mission is set to lay the groundwork for a future return to the lunar surface for the first time since 1972 while also sending four astronauts further into deep space than ever before. The crew is set to travel up to 252,757 miles from Earth, breaking the previous record of 248,655 miles set by the Apollo 13 mission in 1970. As we all set our collective gazes up to the stars once again, here’s what you need to know about NASA’s historic endeavor to bring us back to the moon.

NASA’s Space Launch System rocket launches, carrying the Orion spacecraft. NASA/Bill Ingalls

What Is the Artemis Program?

The Artemis program is most commonly thought of as NASA’s efforts to bring us back to the moon. However, it’s also much more than that.

Named for the Greek goddess of (among other things) hunting, the wilderness, and care for children, Artemis was also a daughter of Zeus and twin of the god Apollo. The name was chosen to honor how this mission is related to, yet still unique from, the Apollo program that came before it.

While returning people to the moon is one of its goals, the Artemis program is also attempting to lay the foundation for building a permanent base on the lunar south pole as well as for future and more frequent crewed missions to the moon and eventually to Mars. The first mission, Artemis I, launched on November 16, 2022. It was an uncrewed test flight of NASA’s new Space Launch System (SLS) and Orion Spacecraft that ultimately orbited the moon and returned to Earth on December 11, 2022.

What Is Artemis II’s Mission?

Building on the success of Artemis I, Artemis II is the first crewed mission of four astronauts aboard the Orion Spacecraft. The capsule was launched atop the SLS, a rocket system that provides 15% more thrust than a Saturn V, the type of rocket used to send the Apollo spacecraft to the moon. It will complete a lunar flyby during its approximately 10-day mission in space.

The goal of Artemis II is primarily to test and demonstrate the functionality of the SLS and capabilities of the Orion spacecraft for taking crews deeper into space as well as back to the lunar surface. According to NASA, the crew will travel roughly 4,600 miles beyond the far side of the moon and return to Earth by harnessing the Earth-Moon gravity field rather than relying on propulsion systems. Upon return, the crew will be recovered in the Pacific Ocean and researchers will use the data collected on the mission to assess the various system performances for future missions.

Who’s On Board?

Astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Jeremy Hansen make up Artemis II’s flight crew. Wiseman, the mission’s commander, previously served as flight engineer aboard the International Space Station (ISS) in 2014 and as chief of the Astronaut Office from December 2020 to November 2022. Glover, who is piloting the craft, has previously piloted to and served as a flight engineer on the ISS during missions throughout 2020 and 2021. Koch, an explorer and engineer, worked and lived aboard the ISS for much of 2019. And Hansen, a Canadian astronaut and a former fighter pilot, is assigned as the mission specialist for the operation.

From right to left, NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, commander; Christina Koch, mission specialist; Victor Glover, pilot; and CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut Jeremy Hansen, mission specialist. NASA/Aubrey Gemignani

What’s Next?

Live coverage of the Artemis II crew’s lunar flyby will begin at 12:00 p.m. Central Time on Monday, April 6, and continue through 8:45 p.m. Central, with NASA staff hosting a conversation with the crew beginning at 12:30. You can find a regularly updated list of other events and activities on the NASA website, leading all the way up to the final splashdown and postmission conference on Friday, April 10. Access the continuous live mission coverage and live views from the Orion spacecraft on the NASA YouTube channel.

Even as Artemis II makes its way to and from the moon, plans are already underway at NASA for the next several missions. Artemis III is scheduled for 2027 and aims to test the capabilities of the Orion Spacecraft and SLS to dock and rendezvous with commercial landers from SpaceX and Blue Origin needed to land astronauts on the moon. If Artemis II and III are both successful, the Artemis IV and Artemis V missions, scheduled for 2028, will endeavor to land astronauts on the lunar surface and pave the way for regularly scheduled lunar missions roughly once a year moving forward.