Artemis II Lunar Flyby: Schedules, Photos, and Mission Updates

NASA’s Artemis II mission has reached a critical phase of its 10-day journey, with the Orion spacecraft and its crew preparing for a lunar flyby scheduled for April 6, 2026. The mission serves as a primary demonstration of the Orion crew capsule’s ability to support humans on a lunar trajectory before NASA attempts a surface landing, potentially as early as 2028.

The crew consists of NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch, alongside Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen. After launching from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, on April 1, 2026, the team is venturing farther into space than any humans in history.

Deep-Space Testing and Technical Demonstrations

On April 4, 2026, the crew entered Flight Day 4, focusing on deep-space operations. During this period, Victor Glover took manual control of the Orion spacecraft at 9:10 p.m. To test handling qualities and performance across various movements in the deep-space environment.

Concurrent with the piloting demonstration, engineers conducted a 24-hour acoustics test. This procedure is designed to characterize the sound environment within the spacecraft to ensure crew safety and system integrity.

Flight Day 5, April 5, 2026, focused on critical safety equipment and survival protocols. The astronauts performed a series of tests with the bright orange Orion Crew Survival Suits in zero gravity. These tests included evaluating the speed of donning the suits—with two astronauts practicing rapid entry and two practicing standard entry—and verifying the functionality of new features such as medication pill ports and food and drink ports.

The crew also utilized the spacecraft’s launch seats during these suit tests to simulate emergency positions while in weightlessness.

Lunar Flyby and Scientific Objectives

The spacecraft is scheduled to enter the moon’s sphere of influence at 12:41 a.m. EDT on April 6, 2026. The primary lunar flyby period is set to begin at 2:45 p.m. On the same day and will last approximately six hours.

During this window, the crew will execute a series of scientific tasks requested by the NASA science team. These objectives include analyzing and photographing specific lunar surface features using high-resolution imagery captured by the spacecraft’s mounted terminal.

the astronauts are preparing to observe a rare solar eclipse from a vantage point beyond the moon.

Mission Timeline and Logistics

The Artemis II mission is operating on a strict timeline to validate the Orion craft’s life support and navigation systems. Key milestones include:

• April 1, 2026: Launch via the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket from Florida.
• April 4, 2026: Manual piloting tests and acoustics characterization.
• April 5, 2026: Crew Survival Suit pressurization and performance tests.
• April 6, 2026: Lunar flyby and surface photography.
• April 10, 2026: Estimated splashdown in California.

As of the morning of April 4, 2026, the spacecraft was traveling at 110,700 miles per hour and was approximately 169,000 miles from Earth.

While Artemis II does not include a lunar landing, it is a foundational step for the Artemis III mission. The successful completion of this 10-day flight will provide the necessary data to support the goal of returning humans to the lunar surface for the first time since the Apollo missions ended in 1972.