The Orion spacecraft
Orion carried the four astronauts around the Moon and back to Earth. Its heat shield was tested at full lunar return speed on the way home.
The first crew to the Moon since 1972
Artemis II was the first crewed flight of NASA's Artemis program, a roughly 10 day free return mission that looped four astronauts around the far side of the Moon with no landing. It carried the first people to lunar distance since Apollo 17 in 1972 and set a new record for the farthest humans have ever traveled from Earth.
Crew
4 astronauts
Duration
about 10 days
Launch
April 1, 2026
Farthest point
252,756 mi
The flight, step by step
Anticipation
/
Phase
"We launched as friends, and we came back as best friends.
"Reid Wiseman
Christina Koch became the first woman ever to travel to the vicinity of the Moon.
Jeremy Hansen became the first Canadian, and first non American, to reach the Moon.
