Artemis II Astronauts Await NASA's Approval for Lunar Flyby
The Artemis II crew is poised for NASA's decision to commence the first crewed lunar flyby in over 50 years.
NASA's Artemis II mission, launched on April 1, 2026, is on the verge of a historic lunar flyby, pending final approval from mission control. The crew, consisting of NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen, is currently orbiting Earth aboard the Orion spacecraft.
Following a successful liftoff from Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the team has been conducting system checks and addressing minor issues, including a communications glitch and a malfunctioning toilet, both of which have been resolved. The astronauts have also performed a burn to place Orion into a high Earth orbit.
NASA's mission management team is scheduled to meet later today to assess the spacecraft's performance and determine whether to proceed with the translunar injection burn, which would set the stage for the crew's three-day journey toward the Moon. This maneuver is tentatively scheduled for 7:07 p.m. Eastern Time.
If approved, Artemis II will mark the first crewed lunar flyby since the Apollo missions over five decades ago, serving as a critical step toward NASA's goal of establishing a sustainable human presence on the Moon by 2028.
