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 a 10-day crewed mission taking four astronauts further from Earth than any human before, orbiting the Moon aboard NASA's Orion capsule and Space Launch System (SLS) rocket.
The mission's primary objective is to test critical systems, procedures, and profiles for future lunar landings, particularly the Artemis IV mission in 2028, without actually touching down on the lunar surface.
This high-stakes mission is crucial for the Artemis program's goal of establishing a permanent lunar presence and eventually facilitating Mars missions, aiming to keep the U.S. ahead of other nations in lunar exploration despite facing significant delays and cost overruns.

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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.