NASA's Artemis II Mission to Send Astronauts Around the Moon in 2026
NASA's Artemis II mission, scheduled for March 2026, will send four astronauts on a 10-day journey around the Moon, marking the first crewed lunar flyby since 1972.
NASA is preparing for the Artemis II mission, set to launch no earlier than March 2026. This mission will be the first crewed lunar flyby since the Apollo program ended in 1972. The 10-day journey will carry four astronauts—Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen—aboard the Orion spacecraft, propelled by the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket.
The mission aims to test critical systems necessary for future lunar landings, including deep space life-support, navigation, and communication. The Orion spacecraft will perform a lunar flyby without landing, traveling farther from Earth than any previous crewed mission.
A key component of the mission is the European Service Module (ESM), developed by the European Space Agency (ESA). The ESM will provide propulsion, power, and life support systems for Orion, enabling safe human travel beyond Earth orbit.
Artemis II builds upon the success of the uncrewed Artemis I mission in 2022 and serves as a critical step toward establishing a sustained human presence on the Moon. The mission's outcomes will inform future endeavors, including Artemis III, which aims to land astronauts on the lunar surface.
