NASA's Artemis II Will Send 4 Astronauts Around the Moon

Four astronauts are about to make history by traveling farther from Earth than any human ever has. NASA's Artemis II mission will launch between April 1 and April 6, sending the first crew to the moon since 1972.

The Space Launch System rocket stands 322 feet tall, as high as a 30-story building. When its engines ignite, they'll produce a staggering 8.3 million pounds of thrust to lift the spacecraft off the pad at Kennedy Space Center.

The four-person crew includes commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, mission specialist Christina Koch, and Canadian mission specialist Jeremy Hansen. Koch holds the women's record for longest single spaceflight at 328 days, while Hansen will become the first Canadian ever to venture to the moon.

The mission will last 10 days and cover more than 600,000 miles. Because the moon will be near its farthest point from Earth, the crew will travel about 250,000 miles away and fly at a higher altitude than the Apollo astronauts did decades ago.

Modern technology makes this mission safer and more capable than the Apollo program. The Orion spacecraft features GPS navigation, solar power, and sophisticated computers that didn't exist in the 1970s. The capsule can even fly autonomously, as it proved during the uncrewed Artemis I test flight in 2020.

The journey begins with a dramatic launch, followed by a critical engine burn two days later that will send the spacecraft slinging around the moon. From there, the crew will be four days from home at best, making deep space travel inherently risky compared to missions in low-Earth orbit.

The Ripple Effect

This mission opens the door to humanity's next giant leap. NASA plans to follow with Artemis III in 2027 to test lunar landers, then Artemis IV in 2028 to land astronauts on the moon's surface. The long-term vision includes establishing a crewed lunar station as a stepping stone for missions to Mars and beyond.

Only 24 people in history have flown to the moon. These four astronauts will join that exclusive group and see sights no human has ever witnessed before.

After more than half a century, we're finally going back to explore the final frontier.