Artemis II: A Mission to the Moon and Back

On April 1, 2026, four astronauts began a special trip to the moon. It was the first time people had gone there in 54 years. The crew was led by Commander Reid Wiseman. The other astronauts were Pilot Victor Glover and Mission Specialists Jeremy Hansen and Christina Koch. NASA called the mission "the greatest adventure in human history."

This mission was named Artemis II. It was the second mission in NASA's Artemis program. NASA wants to use these missions to explore the moon. The program also prepares for future trips to Mars. The first mission, Artemis I, was a test flight without a crew in 2022.

Artemis II did not land on the moon. Instead, the spacecraft flew around the far side of it. The crew traveled 252,756 miles from Earth. That is the farthest any humans have ever been from our planet.

The mission had several important jobs. It tested two new NASA vehicles. The Orion spacecraft carried the astronauts. A huge rocket called the Space Launch System (SLS) launched Orion into space. The astronauts also took more than 7,000 pictures. They took photos of the moon's surface and a solar eclipse.

There were big challenges. The Orion spacecraft had never carried people before. The astronauts used a new path to come back into Earth’s atmosphere. They were also protected by a heat shield. That shield had problems on the earlier Artemis I flight. Engineers fixed the shield for this mission.

Amit Kshatriya is a NASA leader. Before the mission ended, he said he had "full confidence" in all the teams. That confidence was rewarded. On April 10, 2026, the crew returned safely to Earth.

Here is how the Artemis II mission happened:

The giant SLS rocket launched from Florida on April 1, 2026. The used parts of the rocket separated, leaving the Orion capsule. The astronauts performed checks while still in Earth’s orbit. The Orion capsule separated and the crew tested its systems. The craft fired its engine to leave Earth’s orbit and head to the moon. After four days, Orion flew within 4,000 miles of the moon. Gravity from the moon and Earth helped pull the crew back home. The capsule separated to begin its fall to Earth. Parachutes opened to slow the capsule down. The capsule splashed down in the ocean near California. A ship safely recovered the astronauts on April 10, 2026.

What is next for the Artemis program? NASA hopes to fly Artemis III in 2027. That mission will test new lunar landers in Earth’s orbit. If all goes well, Artemis IV and V could land astronauts on the moon in 2028.

There are still challenges ahead. The biggest one is the lunar lander. It does not yet exist. The company SpaceX is building it.

For now, NASA is celebrating the success of Artemis II. "This moment belongs to the thousands of people across fourteen countries," Kshatriya said. "Their work protected four human lives and brought them safely back to Earth."