Artemis II Set for Moon Flyby as NASA Prepares Crewed Return

Artemis II is scheduled to become the first crewed mission to fly to the moon since December 1972, when the Apollo program concluded, with NASA now targeting a launch no earlier than March following the cancellation of a potential date in the second week of February.

The 10-day mission will send four astronauts on a lunar flyby aboard the Orion spacecraft, launched by the Space Launch System rocket, before returning them safely to Earth.

NASA has the rocket in place and is rigorously testing it to ensure readiness for the journey. Orion is in its final preparation stages, and apart from some final tests, the mission hardware is ready.

The Artemis II crew includes commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, and mission specialists Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen. Wiseman, Glover and Koch are American, while Hansen is Canadian and will be the first from his country to travel to the moon.

Launch and Flight Profile

The mission will lift off from Launch Complex 39B at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The Space Launch System, NASA’s super heavy-lift rocket, will produce more than 8.8 million pounds of thrust to launch Orion and its crew into space.

In the initial minutes after liftoff, the spacecraft will shed rocket boosters and other hardware used specifically during the launch phase. Approximately eight minutes after launch, Orion will separate from the lower stage, which will splash down into the Atlantic Ocean and sink.

Over the next few hours, the spacecraft will enter an Earth orbit designed to facilitate a safe return if needed. The crew will remain there until the second day of the mission.

Once in high orbit, astronauts will engage manual controls and test onboard systems, including life support and communications. When systems are deemed operational, the upper-stage rocket will perform a translunar injection burn before detaching, sending Orion toward the moon.

The journey to the moon spans more than 225,000 miles and will take several days. During Days 3 to 5, the crew will conduct additional tests and practice mission procedures.

On Day 6, the spacecraft will fly around the far side of the moon. Depending on launch timing, Artemis II may exceed the Apollo 13 distance record of 248,655 miles from Earth. Communication with Earth is expected to be temporarily lost during this segment as the crew photographs the far side before reestablishing contact.

From Days 7 to 9, Orion will begin its return trajectory under the combined gravitational influence of Earth and the moon. On Day 10, the capsule will reenter Earth’s atmosphere at high speed, generating heat up to 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit.

This phase will test modifications made to Orion’s heat shield following Artemis I, which flew uncrewed in 2022 and sustained heat shield damage that required improvements. After atmospheric reentry, parachutes will deploy and Orion will splash down in the Pacific Ocean, where the US Navy will recover the crew approximately two hours later.

Testing and Future Lunar Plans

The Artemis II mission continues NASA’s Artemis program, which is designed to return humans to the lunar surface. The mission will collect data to inform Artemis III, currently scheduled to launch by 2028 and planned as the first crewed lunar landing since Apollo 17 in 1972.

SpaceX is building the system intended to land astronauts on the moon for Artemis III, while Houston-based Axiom Space is developing the spacesuits they will wear.

Artemis II follows Artemis I, which included several manikins and indicators to test conditions. Among them was Commander Moonikin Campos, named in honor of Arturo Campos, an electrical power subsystem manager for the Lunar Module who played a role in bringing Apollo 13 safely back to Earth.

Helga and Zohar, phantom manikins aboard Artemis I, were used to measure radiation exposure. Snoopy served as a zero-gravity indicator.

NASA is also running the “Send Your Name with Artemis II” campaign, allowing members of the public to submit their names to be recorded on a memory card carried on the crewed lunar flyby. Details of the Artemis program, including mission profiles and testing updates, are published through NASA’s official Artemis program page at NASA’s Artemis program overview.

The current mission builds on earlier uncrewed Saturn V test flights, including Apollo 4, 5 and 6, which validated rocket and Lunar Module systems before human lunar landings. Artemis II represents NASA’s next step in reestablishing crewed deep space exploration capabilities beyond low Earth orbit.

With hardware testing ongoing and crew assignments confirmed, Artemis II stands as the first crewed lunar flyby in more than five decades, setting the stage for a planned return to the moon’s surface under Artemis III.