NASA Prepares for Artemis II: First Crewed Lunar Mission in Over 50 Years

NASA's Artemis II mission is scheduled to lift off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Wednesday, April 1, 2026, at 18:24 local time (22:24 GMT), carrying four astronauts on the first crewed flight to the Moon's vicinity in more than 50 years. The crew consists of Commander Reid Wiseman, Pilot Victor Glover, and Mission Specialist Christina Koch — all Americans — alongside Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen as Mission Specialist. The mission will last approximately 10 days, with the crew traveling aboard the Orion capsule atop the Space Launch System rocket, which stands 98 meters tall. Weather conditions at launch time are forecast at 80% favorable. The astronauts will not land on the lunar surface but will perform a flyby, reaching approximately 400,000 kilometers from Earth and traveling to an altitude of 7,400 kilometers above the Moon.

Historic firsts mark this crew's journey beyond Earth orbit The Artemis II mission carries three significant human spaceflight milestones tied directly to its crew composition. Christina Koch will become the first woman to travel to the Moon's vicinity, and until now only 24 astronauts — all men — have had the opportunity to observe the far side of the Moon. Victor Glover will be the first person of color to travel beyond low Earth orbit, a threshold no person of color had previously crossed. Jeremy Hansen will be the first non-U.S. citizen to travel to the Moon's vicinity, representing the Canadian Space Agency in what marks a milestone for international human spaceflight cooperation. Koch brings extensive experience to the mission, having previously set the record for the longest continuous spaceflight by a woman — 328 days aboard the International Space Station between March 2019 and February 2020. She also participated in the first all-female spacewalk on October 18, 2019, alongside Jessica Meir. The Artemis II crew will follow a free-return trajectory, tracing a figure-eight path that uses the gravitational forces of the Earth and Moon to allow the spacecraft to return without requiring an engine burn for course correction.

The last time humans traveled beyond low Earth orbit was during the Apollo 17 mission in December 1972, which was also the final crewed lunar landing of the Apollo program. The Artemis program is NASA's initiative to return humans to the Moon and establish a sustained presence there, with Artemis II serving as the first crewed test flight of the Orion capsule and the SLS rocket system. Artemis I, an uncrewed test flight, preceded this mission. The program envisions Artemis III as the first crewed lunar landing since Apollo 17, currently planned for 2028.

Crew will conduct health experiments on themselves during the flight Beyond testing spacecraft systems, the Artemis II crew will conduct a series of scientific experiments focused on the effects of deep space on human health, using themselves as the study subjects. The primary experiment is called ARCHeR, which will analyze how factors such as sleep quality, stress levels, cognitive performance, and teamwork are affected by the conditions of deep space travel. Astronauts will wear activity bracelets throughout the mission, and the resulting data will be compared with measurements taken both before and after the flight on Earth. The crew will also investigate immune system responses, collecting wet saliva and blood samples before and after the journey, as well as dry saliva samples during the mission itself. Scientists are particularly interested in whether viruses such as varicella-zoster — which can remain dormant in the body — are more likely to reactivate in deep space, as has been observed on the International Space Station. The crew module will serve as the astronauts' living and working space, while the service module will house life support supplies including drinking water and breathable nitrogen and oxygen. The mission is designed as a critical precursor to Artemis III, testing all systems that will be required for a crewed lunar landing.

Mission sets stage for permanent Moon base and eventual Mars trip NASA has framed Artemis II as more than a symbolic return to deep space, positioning it as a foundational step toward establishing a permanent human presence on the Moon and, ultimately, enabling the first crewed mission to Mars. The mission will test life support systems and operational procedures that have not been evaluated in deep space with a human crew since the Apollo era. The crew will also photograph the far side of the Moon and collect other scientific measurements of interest during the flyby. NASA is broadcasting the launch in both English and Spanish, extending access to Spanish-speaking audiences worldwide. The four astronauts will be able to observe unexplored areas of the lunar surface in their entirety during the flyby, an experience no crew has had since 1972.

10 (days) — planned duration of the Artemis II mission

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