NASA’s Artemis II mission is now well underway, with four astronauts aboard the Orion spacecraft on humanity’s first crewed journey to the vicinity of the Moon since the Apollo programme ended in 1972. Launched on April 1, 2026 from Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the mission completed its translunar injection burn on April 2 and is now on course to fly around the far side of the Moon on April 6 — setting a new record for the furthest any human beings have ever travelled from Earth.
The Artemis II Crew
Four astronauts make up the historic Artemis II crew:
- Commander Reid Wiseman — a NASA astronaut and experienced spacefarer leading the mission.
- Pilot Victor Glover — making history as a key crew member and building on his time aboard the International Space Station.
- Mission Specialist Christina Koch — the first woman to travel on a lunar mission, a milestone in itself.
- Mission Specialist Jeremy Hansen — representing the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) on what is also Canada’s first mission to deep space.
The crew lifted off aboard NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket from Launch Pad 39B at 6:35 PM EDT on April 1, with mission management polling “Go” before the translunar injection burn on the evening of April 2 — a five-minute 50-second engine firing that set Orion on its path toward the Moon.
Breaking a 54-Year-Old Record
One of the most remarkable aspects of Artemis II is the sheer distance the crew will travel. The mission is projected to reach a maximum distance of 252,021 statute miles from Earth — surpassing the Apollo 13 record of approximately 248,655 miles by over 3,366 miles. Apollo 13’s record was set not by design but by the emergency free-return trajectory the crew had to adopt after their service module oxygen tank exploded in 1970.
Artemis II will surpass that record through careful, deliberate mission planning — and the moment the crew crosses that threshold will mark a genuine milestone in the history of human spaceflight. Former astronaut Butch Wilmore, watching from the ground, told ABC News that the Artemis II crew were “getting a special perspective that no human has seen in 54 years — to see the whole entire planet in one view out of the window.”
Mission Profile: What Happens When?
The Artemis II mission follows a free-return trajectory around the Moon — meaning the spacecraft loops around the far side and uses the Moon’s gravity to slingshot itself back toward Earth without requiring a lunar orbit insertion burn. This makes it a lower-risk test flight than Artemis III, which will actually land on the Moon.
Key milestones in the remaining mission timeline include:
- April 5: The spacecraft enters the lunar sphere of influence, where the Moon’s gravity begins to exert more force than Earth’s.
- April 6: Orion flies around the far side of the Moon — the moment the crew will be out of contact with mission control and furthest from Earth.
- April 10–11: Orion returns toward Earth, with splashdown in the Pacific Ocean expected approximately 10 days after launch.
First Stunning Photos of Earth Released
NASA has already released a series of breathtaking photographs taken by the Artemis II crew, showing Earth as a small, luminous sphere against the vast blackness of deep space. The images have been widely shared and have captured the public imagination in a way that recalls the iconic “Earthrise” photograph taken by Apollo 8 astronaut Bill Anders in 1968.
Al Jazeera reported that NASA’s release of the photos drew millions of views within hours, with the images serving as a reminder of just how small and precious our planet appears from even the relatively modest distances involved in a lunar flyby mission.
Artemis III: The Moon Landing Is Next
Artemis II is not a Moon landing — it is a test flight of the Orion spacecraft and SLS rocket with a human crew, designed to verify all systems before Artemis III attempts the first crewed lunar landing since Apollo 17 in December 1972. That mission is tentatively planned for no earlier than 2027, with the crew including the first woman and first person of colour to walk on the Moon.
The success of Artemis II is therefore critical to the entire future of NASA’s lunar programme. Every system checked, every contingency managed, and every milestone achieved builds the confidence and technical understanding needed to put boots back on the lunar surface for the first time in over half a century.