NASA's Artemis II Mission Set for April 2026 Lunar Flyby
NASA's Artemis II mission, scheduled for April 2026, aims to send four astronauts on a 10-day lunar flyby, marking the first crewed mission to the Moon since 1972.
NASA is preparing to launch Artemis II, its first crewed mission to the Moon since 1972, scheduled for April 2026. The 10-day mission will carry four astronauts—Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Jeremy Hansen—on a lunar flyby using the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion spacecraft.
The mission will test Orion's life-support systems and provide data on deep space travel's effects on human biology.
Artemis II's trajectory includes a high Earth orbit, system checkouts, and a free-return trajectory around the Moon, culminating in a Pacific Ocean splashdown.
Recent technical issues, including a helium flow problem, have been addressed, and the SLS rocket has been rolled out to Launch Pad 39B at Kennedy Space Center.
This mission is a critical step in NASA's Artemis program, aiming to establish a sustainable human presence on the Moon and prepare for future missions to Mars.
