Your Guide to NASA’s Artemis II Moon Mission

Space agency is targeting Wednesday for the historic journey—its first to the moon in more than half a century.

Jack Daleo

Tuesday, March 31, 2026 at 05:00 PM ET

Verified

Edited By:

Travis Tingle

Artemis II crewmembers Reid Wiseman (from left), Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Jeremy Hansen stand before NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) at Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Monday. [Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls]

Key Takeaways:

Artemis II is NASA's pioneering crewed mission, set to send four astronauts on a 10-day journey farther into space around the Moon than any human has gone before.
The mission's primary objective is to rigorously test the Orion capsule, Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, and critical operational procedures in preparation for future lunar landings, though Artemis II itself will not land on the Moon.
Despite significant delays and budget overruns, the success of Artemis II is crucial for advancing the broader Artemis program, which aims to establish a sustainable human presence on the Moon and pave the way for missions to Mars.

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The countdown has begun. The crew is ready. And barring any last-minute hiccups, four astronauts on Wednesday will begin a journey that sends them farther from Earth than any human has gone before.

NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch, and Canadian Space Agency (CSA) astronaut Jeremy Hansen—the crew of NASA’s Artemis II mission—are expected to travel more than 230,000 miles from Earth and 4,600 miles beyond the far side of the moon during their 10-day trip.