Artemis II Mission Launches: First Crewed Lunar Flight in Over 50 Years

The Artemis II mission, the first crewed lunar flight in more than 50 years, launched on April 1, 2026, at 18:35 local time from the John F. Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral, Florida, carrying four astronauts toward the Moon aboard the Orion capsule. The crew consists of Commander Reid Wiseman, Pilot Victor Glover, and Mission Specialists Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen of the Canadian Space Agency. Koch is the first woman, Glover the first African American, and Hansen the first Canadian to fly into lunar orbit. The mission is scheduled to last 10 days, with a lunar flyby planned for April 6, 2026. The Space Launch System rocket carried the Orion capsule into orbit, after which the crew began checking onboard systems before executing the trans-lunar injection maneuver to set course for the Moon. The launch had originally been scheduled for February 8, but was postponed twice due to technical problems before the April date was confirmed.

Toilet malfunction strikes on day one The mission's first day brought an unexpected complication when Mission Specialist Christina Koch reported a malfunction in the Orion capsule's toilet system. A fan responsible for removing urine had jammed, leaving the liquid waste removal system inoperable while the solid waste function continued to work normally. Flight controllers in Houston guided the crew through the repair step by step, and one astronaut used a backup urinal in the interim, with its contents subsequently ejected into space. The toilet aboard Orion is designed so that each astronaut has an individual urine funnel that draws fluids into a tank, and the system is reportedly loud enough to require hearing protection. Koch confirmed the resolution over the radio. „I am happy to report the toilet is up and running.” — Christina Koch via rmf24.pl The episode drew comparisons to the Apollo era, when astronauts had no dedicated toilet and used plastic bags for solid waste, with urine similarly vented into space. The Artemis program is NASA's initiative to return humans to the Moon for the first time since the Apollo 17 mission in 1972. The uncrewed Artemis I mission flew in November 2022, sending the Orion spacecraft into lunar orbit and back without a crew. Artemis II is the first crewed flight of the program, serving as a precursor to future surface landings. NASA has revised its plans so that the Moon landing will now take place during the Artemis IV mission, currently targeted for 2028, rather than Artemis III.

German technology powers the mission from engine to orbit The Orion capsule is propelled by the European Service Module, built by Airbus in Bremen, Germany, marking the first time a crewed spacecraft has been sent into deep space using this European-built propulsion unit. The module also manages temperature regulation, power supply, and stores fuel along with oxygen and water for the four-person crew. Also aboard the Orion capsule is "Tacheles," a shoebox-sized small satellite from Berlin startup Neurospace, which will be placed in lunar orbit and spend approximately two years collecting data on cosmic radiation and its effects on electronics. Four radiation detectors from the German Aerospace Center are installed inside the crew capsule to measure cosmic radiation levels between Earth and the Moon, a factor considered one of the greatest hazards for long-duration space missions. A 15-meter DLR antenna in Weilheim, Germany, is among 34 worldwide stations tracking the Orion spacecraft's flight. „Germany is at the forefront when it comes to humanity's return to the Moon.” — Walther Pelzer via Deutsche Welle

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Cells from the crew fly as living experiments Among the scientific experiments on board is the "astronaut on a chip" program, which carries human organ cells — including samples taken from the four crew members themselves — recorded on a chip the size of a flash drive. Tomasz Zajkowski, a Polish astrobiologist and biochemist at the AGH University of Krakow and president of the Polish Astrobiological Society, explained the experiment's design on TVN24. „The cells are located in these barely visible channels, through which various fluids can flow, simultaneously nourishing the cells contained therein. The radiation sensors themselves are distributed basically across the entire span of this spacecraft, the part where the astronauts reside. This is extremely important because here on Earth we are protected by the mantle of the magnetic field, whereas our brave astronauts have already left this mantle and are heading toward the Moon, which is not protected from the heavy radiation reaching them from the Sun.” — Tomasz Zajkowski via TVN24 The mission also drew attention for its use of modern iPhones aboard the Orion CM-003 Integrity spacecraft, a departure from NASA's traditional reliance on certified but technologically dated equipment such as decade-old Nikon DSLRs and GoPro cameras. The NASA broadcast showed astronauts packing iPhones into spacesuit pockets and using them in orbit, passing devices to one another in microgravity. The lunar flyby on April 6 is expected to give the crew a view of areas on the Moon's far side never previously seen by human eyes, with the iPhone potentially capturing those images. Grzegorz Wrochna, Global Affairs Director of Creotech Instruments S.A. and former president of the Polish Space Agency, described the broader significance of the mission on TVN24. „After 50 years, humanity is returning to the Moon. And it is no longer returning just to set foot there and plant a flag, but to build a base where astronauts and scientists will permanently study the Silver Globe and also prepare for future missions to Mars.” — Grzegorz Wrochna via TVN24