4 things to know about the Artemis II mission

Udisha

The mission

The Artemis II mission was launched on April 1, 2026 from the NASA Kennedy Space Centre. It is a 10-day crewed mission in which the spacecraft will travel to the moon and return on April, 11.

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Crew

The four-member crew of Artemis II includes NASA astronauts, Commander Reid Wiseman, Pilot Victor Glover, and Mission Specialists Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen.

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Historic milestone

The mission is historic because with the expected distance of 252,757 miles, it will be the farthest any human has travelled in space. It is also the first time since 1972 that a crewed mission has been sent beyond the low orbit of the Earth.

Objective

The objective of the mission is to test out the Orion spacecraft and its life support, navigation systems. The astronauts will also send back pictures of the Moon's far side which might provide new information.

Picture of the moon from the Artemis II crew | Instagram
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