Artemis II
- Apr 3
- 3 min read
For the first time since 1972, the United States of America has launched a crewed space journey to go around the moon. At 1835 hours (6:35 p.m.) on Wednesday, April 1, 2026, a crew of three American and one Canadian astronaut lifted off from 39B launch site at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida aboard the Orion spacecraft sitting atop the SLS (Space Launch System). This rocket system stands 322 feet tall and generates 8.8 MILLION pounds of thrust! Some facts:
The SLS gets its thrust from four RS-25 engines in the core stage and two five-segment solid rocket boosters.
The core stage propellant holds 733,000 gallons of super-cooled liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen.
In addition to the rocket engines, the Orion service module, which is the home for the astronauts, contains 33 engines for navigation and attitude control.
The Crew Module is Orion CM-003 named "Integrity" by the crew. The crew consists of:
Reid Wiseman - Commander
Victor Glover - Pilot
Christina Koch - Mission Specialist
Jeremy Hansen - Mission Specialist
The anticipated 10-day mission is a lunar flyby on a hybrid free-return trajectory. The total distance traveled is approximately 685,000 miles with approximately 4,600 miles beyond the moon on the far side. (No airline reward miles, sorry to say).
The crew will get within 5,000 miles of the lunar surface at closest approach.
Upon their return, an 11-parachute system will slow the Orion capsule from a reentry speed of 25,000 mph down to approximately 130 mph. Once the parachutes are deployed, the speed will drop to about 17 mph to ensure a safe splashdown in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of San Diego, CA.
People often ask the reason for the flyby rather than landing on the moon. Artemis II is the second of several planned missions to eventually lay the groundwork for future missions to land astronauts on the moon in 2028. Artemis I was an UNCREWED moon orbiting mission launched on November 16, 2022, and was NASA's return to Lunar exploration after the conclusion of the Apollo program 50 years ago. The lessons learned from that first mission were incorporated into Artemis II for the first crewed flight. One crucial detail learned from Artemis I was that changes needed to be made to the heat shield for this crewed flight. Artemis I's heat shield partially cracked, so a new system was designed to overcome these issues. Additionally, Artemis I had numerous delays due to hydrogen leaks and senor abnormalities. Artemis II refined fueling procedures and improved and redundant ground systems.
What's next after Artemis II?
Artemis III is tentatively scheduled for late 2026 but this date may be pushed further into 2027 due to ongoing challenges with the SpaceX Starship Human Landing System. This was originally planned to be a lunar landing but is now repurposed as an Earth-orbit docking test with SpaceX or Blue Origin.
Artemis IV mission (early 2028) will be approximately 30 days in duration with a 4-person crewed lunar landing with two astronauts landing on the moon and the other two remaining in lunar orbit aboard the Orion spacecraft. The 2-person crew is expected to spend approximately one week on the moon's surface. The planned landing site will be near the lunar South Pole, which is of significant scientific interest due to the presence of water, ice and other resources.
Artemis V (late 2028) will be a second lunar landing and the start of a moon base assembly using standardized SLS hardware. The lunar surface infrastructure will consist of surface power systems, communications and habitat modules such as the Italian Multi-purpose Habitat. This will be capable of supporting two astronauts for one mission per year lasting between 7 and 30 days. In case of emergencies, it will also be capable of supporting larger crews for short periods. The Multi-purpose Habitat (MPH) will autonomously be conducting scientific experiments when not supporting a crew.
The Artemis program is both an exciting and important venture for the United States. NASA is working with outside agencies and countries and has the support of the both the government as well as the scientific community.
As we embark on the 250th anniversary of the United States, it was a proud moment to watch Artemis II lift off with its twin rocket boosters displaying the America 250 symbols lifting into the heavens. We wish the crew and ground support team a safe journey and for the future of space exploration!
Research for this story came from dozens of websites and documents including:
Such great research! I knew there was gonna be other Artemis missions but I didn’t know the specifics!! Thank you so much! Also fun fact for the other readers. “Astronaut” derives from Greek meaning “Star Sailor”
Watching the launch, I had goosebumps with the same feeling of awe, pride, and fascination I had back in 1968-69. Then afterwards it seemed like we lost our mojo. I had been wishing for decades such great adventures would resume.
Very informative, although some of the acronyms and terms were over my head....that being said, sounds like there will be more success with this program. Looking forward to it.
Beautiful post. Very informative. Love that the launch was so successful