Artemis-2 Lunar Mission

Artemis-2 Lunar Flyby Mission

Artemis-2 was the first scheduled crewed mission of Artemis, although the astronauts did not step out on the Moon. It was the dry run for the actual lunar landing mission. Following the steps taken by the first demonstration mission, the Artemis-2 mission stayed in Earth orbit for 42 hours to test the capabilities of the spacecraft’s Environmental Control and Life Support System (ECLSS) before committing astronauts to the Trans-Lunar Injection (TLI) that sent them to the Moon. The crew went into lunar orbit, traveling 4,600 miles beyond the far side of the Moon. They were able to see the Earth and the Moon from the spacecraft. They also were privileged to see a total eclipse of the Sun from behind the Moon. Orion performed Return Trajectory Adjustment (RTA) burns to send the spacecraft back to Earth. When the Orion spacecraft reached Earth, it separated from the Service Module and the astronauts plummeted through the atmosphere protected by the spacecraft's heat shield that will withstand temperatures up to 5,000 degrees F during re-entry. The parachutes were deployed and Orion splashed down in the Pacific Ocean. This mission lasted about 10 days.

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NASA launched the Artemis-2 lunar fly-by mission from Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Pad 39B at 6:35 p.m. EDT (2235 GMT) on April 1, 2026. The behemoth rocket soared into the blue sky, carrying the Orion capsule bound for the Moon, NASA’s first crewed lunar mission in over 50 years. Orion carried NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch, along with Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen to the Moon and back. The astronauts did not land on the Moon, but performed a lunar flyby to pave the way for the Artemis lunar landing mission.

Artemis-II Crew Launch Vehicle

The rocket that sent humans around the Moon is known as the Space Launch System (SLS). SLS is a two-stage super heavy-lift launch vehicle used by NASA for the Artemis program. The entire system when stacked for launch is 315-feet high and weighs 27 tons.

The first or core stage was built by Boeing and powered by RS-25 engines like those used on the Shuttle. Attached to the core stage are two Solid Rocket Boosters built by Northrop Grumman. The core stage contained liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen to provide 8.8 million pounds of thrust at liftoff. The Launch Stage Vehicle Adapter attaches the first stage to the Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage (ICPS). The ICPS is the second or upper stage of the Artemis launch vehicle. It also has brackets in the attached Orion Stage adapter that launches small satellites containing experiments called, "CubeSats". The ICPS is attached to the Service Module that remains with the Orion spacecraft until it is ready to plunge through the Earth's atmosphere on return.

The Orion Spacecraft is the home of the astronauts from the time they leave Earth until they return. The last component of the SLS stack is the Launch Abort System (LAS) that allows astronauts to return to Earth. When it is no longer possible for the astronauts to return, the LAS detaches and falls back to Earth. The crew named their Orion crew capsule, "Integrity" because of their trust and respect for the entire team that brought the Artemis-II mission.

Lift Off

At ignition, the SLS Core Stage and attached boosters lifted the Orion capsule to low Earth orbit. The boosters fired for about 2 minutes and separated from the main core stage, falling back to Earth. The core stage main engines cut off about 8 minutes into the flight. This left the Orion spacecraft and the remaining stack in a highly elliptical orbit with an apogee of roughly 1,400 miles or 2,300 km, but with a suborbital perigee (still in Earth’s upper atmosphere.)

After main-engine cutoff, astronauts Koch and Hansen unstrapped from their seats to setup and test essential systems on the spacecraft. Everything checked out okay and about 50 minutes after liftoff, the upper stage of the SLS, the Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage fired its single RL10 engine when the spacecraft was at apogee. This raised Orion into a stable Low-Earth orbit. An hour later, the spacecraft reached a new perigee and performed a 15-minute burn that raised it into a higher orbit, 44,000 miles above the Earth. The second burn used up most of the fuel in the ICPS and it was time to separate it from the Orion spacecraft and the Service Module.

Piloting Orion

Once the spacecraft was successfully placed in orbit, Integrity automatically flipped to face the spent upper stage and it moved into position 300 feet away. The crew was to perform a manual piloting demonstration, actually taking control of the Orion spacecraft. This test is called the "proximity operations demonstration" and helps engineers to evaluate the manual handling qualities of Orion. Pilot Victor Glover used hand controllers and the display to test that Orion responded properly. Next, Glover moved Orion to within 30 feet of the ICPS that was launched with the docking target. After achieving a good alignment, Glover piloted the spacecraft to the other side of the ICPS and performed another docking test with a target on that side. During the mission, Glover and every member of the crew was able to get behind the controls and experiment with piloting the spacecraft themselves. It is quite remarkable that the entire crew got to control a spacecraft; for the most part, automated systems do the real piloting.

Day two of the Artemis mission started with another engine burn to tweak the spacecraft orbit so that Orion could perform a translunar injection burn. This burn lasted for five minutes and 50 seconds and sent the astronauts out of low Earth on their way to the Moon. After the spacecraft was safely on the way to the Moon, astronauts took a backwards look at the Earth. Earth is lit up by moonlight as the Sun is eclipsed by the Earth in this image. The continent of Africa is seen at the lower left.

As they continued their journey to the moon, the crew had to exercise regularly using a special flywheel exercise device to keep fit. They performed human health monitoring activities. They gave press conferences and tested out lunar spacesuits. They also were the first humans to use NASA's Deep Space Network to communicate with Earth since the Apollo era.

The astronauts prepared for the lunar flyby operations to come. As they traveled to the farside of the Moon that is not seen from Earth, they would see features that were never seen by human eyes before such as the full Orientale Basin, Pierazzo crater, and Ohm crater. They also had to prepare the cabin for lunar observations, stowing equipment and setting up cameras. The Nikon cameras they used had 80-400-millimeter and 14-24-millimeter lenses.

Just before the flyby, Artemis astronauts called mission control and asked if they could name two small craters that they were able to see with their naked eyes. To the northwest of Orientale basin, the crew spotted an unknown crater they would like to name "Integrity" after their spacecraft. Northeast of the Integrity crater, close to the boundary of the near and far sides that would sometimes be visible from Earth, the crew suggested an unnamed crater be designated "Carroll" in honor of Reid Weisman’s late wife, Carroll Taylor Wiseman, Carroll was a nurse and the mother of three children, who passed away on May 17, 2020. Mission control recorded their request and assured the astronauts that their crater name proposals will be submitted to the International Astronomical Union, that governs the naming of celestial bodies and surface features. It was a powerful moment that expressed the crew’s emotion.

Lunar Flyby Observations

On Monday, April 6 at 2:45 p.m. EDT, the flyby period began. Orion’s main cabin windows were pointed toward the Moon and the crew was close enough to make scientific observations. Live views of the Moon were provided by two cameras mounted on Orion’s solar arrays. Image quality varied during the observation period due to distance from Earth, system limitations, and NASA’s communications network.

The seven-hour lunar flyby and lunar observations were really the heart of the Artemis II mission. Just before observations began, the Artemis crew set a new record for the farthest distance traveled from Earth by any human, surpassing the record set by Apollo 13 in April 1970. By the end of the observation period, the Artemis II crew reached the maximum distance of 252,760 miles away from Earth.

Shortly after the naming request, the formal lunar surface observations began. NASA’s Artemis II Science Team worked with the astronauts from the ground while the crew members changed places during the observations. A final list of 30 lunar surface targets had been agreed upon with specific science objectives planned. Two astronauts held cameras at the Orion’s windows taking pictures and describing the color variations that could indicate mineral composition of the features. The science team asked questions about the observations in real time. Astronauts reported issues staring at the surface features and the brightness coming in the windows. One of the windows gave better views because it was totally unobstructed by the spacecraft. Live stream video allowed interested public to watch much of the process.

A major target for study was the Orientale Basin, the youngest basin on the Moon, boasting, a ~600-mile-wide crater. Only the rim of this basin can be seen from Earth under the best conditions. The crater is dated at 3.8 billion years. The basin formed when a large object struck the Moon. The basin has three rings and the impact ejecta rays cover over 870 miles or 1,400 km. On the south side of the basin, a feature known as the "dark annular ring" is located on top of the middle ring.

As Integrity orbited over the farside, the crew continued to take images, record observations, and give commentary to the science team. Observations of the Ohm crater, and the Hertzsprung crater, and craters along the terminator were logged. During the flyby, the signal from the Orion spacecraft was blocked by the Moon. The loss of signal lasted about 40 minutes, afterward Orion became visible from the opposite side of the Moon and regained contact. The crew was also tasked to look for "impact flashes" caused by small meteoroids impacting on the surface. The crew observed six flashes during the allotted time. During the blackout period, Orion ended its outbound journey away from Earth and began to return home.

Artemis astronauts experienced a total solar eclipse when the disk of the Moon covered the Sun. Observations of the solar corona and the brightness of the limb of the Moon, on the Sun side as well as lightening on the Earth side. During the eclipse, the corona formed a glowing halo around the dark lunar disk, revealing the Sun’s outer atmosphere never visible due to its surface brightness. Light from the Sun illuminated the entire edge of the Moon's disk. Astronauts were able to see features on the lunar surface due to the light from the Earth, or "earthshine." They also saw the planets lined up along the ecliptic while the Sun was eclipsed.

After the flyby, the Artemis II crew was congratulated by President Donald J. Trump, during a live conversation. They also spoke to NASA Administrator, Jared Isaacman and answered questions from social media.

On Day 7 of the mission the Artemis II crew had an audio call with astronauts aboard the International Space Station. Jessica Meir, Jack Hathaway, and Chris Williams, and ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Sophie Adenot of Expedition 74 spoke to the Artemis crew. They spoke for 15 minutes to share their mission experiences, comparing the differences between the lunar mission and life on the space station.

Later, the Artemis astronauts, Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Jeremy Hansen—held a mission debrief with the NASA lunar science team on the ground. They discussed visual observations, comments, and audio from the lunar flyby to help scientists understand and refine the crew's impressions while the observing experience was still fresh. At 8:03 pm EDT, the Orion spacecraft ignited its thrusters for a 15-second burn, adjusting course for their journey home.

Astronaut activities for Day 8 included testing the orthostatic intolerance garment that is worn under the Orion Crew Survival System suit that helps astronauts to maintain blood pressure and circulation while returning to Earth’s gravity. Each astronaut had to wear the suit and give their evaluations. The crew also held a press conference with the media at 10:45 p.m. EDT. Then, the crew began to prepare the Orion cabin for entry into Earth's atmosphere, reviewed procedures during entry, and stowed equipment to ensure items were secured.

Day 9 found the astronauts continuing their preparation for landing. They had to check the latest weather, the recovery team's status, and their entry timeline. They also needed to go over landing operations procedures. In addition, Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen began stowing equipment that the crew took out during the mission, removing cargo and locker netting, installing and adjusting crew seats. At 10:53 p.m. EDT, the Orion spacecraft ignited its thrusters for 9 seconds, making a course correction that refined its path toward Earth landing. During the burn, Hansen reviewed the procedure steps and monitored Orion’s systems.

Day 10 - Returning Home

At 2:53 pm EDT, the Orion spacecraft ignited its thrusters for 8 seconds, performing the final course correction on the route back to Earth. Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen reviewed the landing procedures and checked the spacecraft’s status. Final preparations continued and the crew had to study their entry checklist.

At 7:33 pm EDT, the Orion capsule separated from the Service Module. The Orion crew capsule fired an 18-second burn to set the crew module at the correct entry angle and align the heat shield to protect the spacecraft through Earth's atmosphere. During atmospheric entry, the heatshield must survive temperatures of about 5,000 degrees Fahrenheit. At 7:53 pm EDT, Orion’s first contact with the upper atmosphere meant there would be a six-minute communications blackout due to plasma. The crew experienced up to 3.9 g's as the spacecraft plummeted toward Earth.

When Orion reached 23,400 feet in altitude, the drogue parachutes deployed. This first set of parachutes began to slow the ship, reducing Orion’s speed to less than 136 mph. When the capsule reached 5,400 feet, the drogues parachutes released, and the three main parachutes deployed. When the capsule reached the surface of the Pacific Ocean, the vessel was traveling 200 feet per second. The Artemis II crew returned to Earth after a 694,481-mile journey at 8:07 p.m. EDT.

NASA's engineers and recovery crews began to work immediately. The local time was 5:07 pm, so crew recovery could be done in daylight. The landing site was off the coast near San Diego, California. The crew exited from Orion and flew by helicopter to the USS John P. Murtha. They would be in San Diego while the Orion capsule was secured by the recovery crews.