Artemis II Mission: Meet the Astronauts Heading to the Moon

NASA’s Artemis II mission has departed Earth’s orbit and is currently traveling toward the moon, marking the first crewed journey toward the lunar vicinity in more than 50 years.

The mission launched on April 1, 2026, carrying a four-person crew consisting of Commander Reid Wiseman, Christina Koch, Victor Glover, and Jeremy Hansen. The crew is traveling aboard the Orion spacecraft, which was propelled into space by the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket.

Translunar Injection and Earth Orbit Departure

On April 2, 2026, the spacecraft completed a critical milestone known as the translunar injection burn. While the Orion spacecraft was passing approximately 115 miles above Earth, one of its engines fired for five minutes and 50 seconds.

This maneuver broke the crew capsule out of its orbit around Earth and set the spacecraft on a trajectory toward the moon. According to reporting from NPR, the burn successfully sent the crew on a journey spanning approximately 250,000 miles.

I gotta tell you, there is nothing normal about this. Sending four humans 250,000 miles away is a Herculean effort, and we are now just realizing the gravity of that

Reid Wiseman

Commander Reid Wiseman stated in a downlink following the burn that the crew was definitely, 100% on our way to the moon and noted that the crew reacted with disbelief at the technical accomplishment of the mission.

Mission Objectives and Duration

Artemis II is designed as a 10-day crewed lunar flyby. Unlike future Artemis missions, this flight will not land on the lunar surface but will instead venture around the moon to test deep space systems.

The mission serves as a critical test of NASA’s human deep space capabilities. By sending a crew aboard the SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft, NASA aims to demonstrate the range of capabilities required for long-term lunar presence and future exploration. The Orion spacecraft is specifically developed to sustain astronauts during these missions and return them safely to Earth.

This flight builds upon the results of the uncrewed Artemis I mission conducted in 2022. The successful completion of the Artemis II flyby is intended to pave the way for future missions that will return humans to the lunar surface and eventually facilitate crewed missions to Mars.