Artemis II was NASA’s first crewed mission beyond low Earth orbit since 1972, forming a key part of the Artemis program to return humans to the Moon. It launched on April 1, 2026, aboard the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket from Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The mission lasted about ten days, with the Orion spacecraft traveling on a free-return trajectory around the Moon before safely splashing down in the Pacific Ocean on April 11, 2026.

The crew consisted of four astronauts: Reid Wiseman (commander), Victor Glover (pilot), and mission specialists Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen. Hansen, from the Canadian Space Agency, became the first non-American to travel to the vicinity of the Moon. During the mission, the crew tested Orion’s life support systems, navigation, communication, and manual flight capabilities, while also carrying out observations of Earth and the Moon.

The mission is considered successful because it demonstrated that NASA’s new deep-space systems are capable of safely transporting humans beyond low Earth orbit. Orion performed as expected in the harsh environment of deep space, including during its high-speed re-entry into Earth’s atmosphere. The safe return of the crew validated critical systems needed for future missions, particularly Artemis III, which aims to land astronauts on the lunar surface. Artemis II also marked a major step in re-establishing human lunar exploration and strengthening international cooperation in space exploration.