About our NASA Artemis news
Latest news on Artemis II (Artemis 2), NASA's crewed lunar flyby mission aboard the Orion spacecraft and SLS rocket, with crew, launch, and splashdown updates.
Artemis II is the first crewed mission of NASA's Artemis programme and the first time astronauts have travelled beyond low Earth orbit since Apollo 17 in December 1972. Launched from Kennedy Space Center on 1 April 2026, the approximately 10-day test flight carries a four-person crew on a free-return trajectory around the Moon. Commander Reid Wiseman, Pilot Victor Glover, Mission Specialist Christina Koch, and Canadian Space Agency (CSA) astronaut Jeremy Hansen are making history: Glover is the first Black person, Koch the first woman, and Hansen the first non-American to travel to the lunar vicinity.
The mission serves as a critical shakedown of systems that have never carried humans in deep space. The crew is testing the Orion spacecraft's life support, navigation, and communication systems in conditions that cannot be replicated on Earth. Early mission milestones have included a proximity operations demonstration, in which Pilot Glover manually manoeuvred Orion around the detached upper stage of the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket. The mission's Orion capsule, named Integrity by the crew, is expected to travel roughly 7,600 km beyond the far side of the Moon before returning for a high-speed re-entry and Pacific Ocean splashdown off San Diego.
Artemis II has faced scrutiny over delays and technical challenges. Originally targeting early 2025, the launch was postponed multiple times due to issues including Orion battery problems, a liquid hydrogen leak detected during a practice countdown, and concerns over heat shield performance observed during the uncrewed Artemis I flight in 2022. The future of the wider programme has also been debated: a 2025 budget proposal sought to cancel the SLS after Artemis III, though subsequent legislation preserved funding for continued development. NASA's Lunar Gateway station was cancelled in March 2026, with the agency shifting its focus towards building infrastructure directly on the lunar surface.
The crew's personal stories have captured global attention. Wiseman, a Navy veteran and single parent, brings extensive test pilot and International Space Station experience. Glover, a former F/A-18 pilot and SpaceX Crew-1 veteran, has spoken candidly about the personal challenges he faced during his assignment. Koch, who previously set the record for the longest single spaceflight by a woman during a 328-day ISS stay, is now the first woman on a lunar mission. Hansen, a former Royal Canadian Air Force fighter pilot, is making his first spaceflight and has been frank about the inherent risks of riding an unproven crewed vehicle, urging the public not to be shocked if things go wrong.
Artemis II builds on a lineage stretching back to the Apollo era. Its flight profile echoes that of Apollo 8, the first crewed mission to the Moon in 1968, while its free-return trajectory more closely mirrors the path taken by Apollo 13. The broader Artemis programme envisions a sustained human presence on the Moon, with Artemis III planned to test lunar lander docking in Earth orbit alongside SpaceX's Starship HLS and Blue Origin's Blue Moon, and Artemis IV targeting the first crewed lunar landing since 1972. These missions are also intended to lay groundwork for eventual crewed missions to Mars.
Whether you are following the Artemis II mission in real time or tracking the long-term trajectory of NASA's return to the Moon, our ÐÇ¿Õ´«Ã½ Artemis II feed brings you comprehensive, constantly updated coverage from a wide range of reliable sources. Stay informed on crew updates, mission milestones, splashdown, and the future of lunar and deep space exploration all in one place.