NASA Astronauts To Embark On Historic Journey Around The Moon With Artemis II Mission

NASA Astronauts Prepare for Historic Journey Around the Moon In a monumental leap towards reestablishing a human presence in space, NASA’s Artemis program is poised to launch its first crewed flight, Artemis II, as early as February 2026. This ambitious mission marks a significant milestone in the quest to return American astronauts to the moon, a goal that has been pursued intermittently over the past several decades.

The Artemis II mission will send a crew of four astronauts on a groundbreaking journey around the moon. The team comprises NASA’s Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch, along with the Canadian Space Agency’s Jeremy Hansen. This historic endeavor will be the first time astronauts have ventured beyond near-Earth orbit since the final Apollo mission in 1972. Artemis II aims to test and verify the systems and components of the crew’s spacecraft, Orion. The mission will follow a slingshot trajectory around the moon, designed to ensure a safe return to Earth, even in the event of a propulsion system failure.

This flight path is tailored to Orion’s design and mass, differing from the Apollo missions that entered low-lunar orbit.