![An Expedition 40 crew member took this photo of the moon from the International Space Station on June 12, 2014. [NASA]](/gc8/images/2026/04/01/55386-full-moon-ISS-370_237.webp)
An Expedition 40 crew member took this photo of the moon from the International Space Station on June 12, 2014. [NASA] By BlueShift and AFP |
After launch, Artemis II and its four-member crew will circumnavigate Earth before leaving orbit to travel to the moon for a lunar flyby.
If it is successful, the mission will bring humans into the vicinity of the moon for the first time in 50 years.
About two hours after NASA’s Artemis II Space Launch System (SLS) lifts off, the Orion spaceship will detach from the rocket and enter orbit around Earth.
During this time, the crew -- NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch, and their Canadian colleague Jeremy Hansen -- will conduct checks to ensure the reliability and safety of the Orion spacecraft.
![Media focus their cameras on NASA’s Artemis II Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft, atop a mobile launcher at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on March 29. [NASA/Bill Ingalls]](/gc8/images/2026/04/01/55385-Artemis-2-Florida-370_237.webp)
Media focus their cameras on NASA’s Artemis II Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft, atop a mobile launcher at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on March 29. [NASA/Bill Ingalls] ![The Sun rises behind NASA’s Artemis II Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft at Launch Complex 39B at Kennedy Space Center in Florida on March 24. [NASA/Ben Smegelsky]](/gc8/images/2026/04/01/55369-Artemis-2-launch-370_237.webp)
The Sun rises behind NASA’s Artemis II Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft at Launch Complex 39B at Kennedy Space Center in Florida on March 24. [NASA/Ben Smegelsky]
This will be the first time the Orion spacecraft has carried humans.
The astronauts also will test the spacecraft's manual piloting capabilities during docking simulations.
If all trials are successful, Orion will then provide the necessary thrust to leave Earth's orbit and head to the moon -- which is more than 384,000 km away, roughly 1,000 times further away than the International Space Station.
For several days, the astronauts will conduct additional tests and experiments.
Once they reach the moon, they will fly over its far side.
At this moment communications with Earth will be interrupted: the four astronauts are expected to become the human beings who have traveled farthest from Earth, breaking the Apollo 13 record.
Their observations should help NASA choose a landing site for Artemis 4, which will venture to the lunar south pole -- where no human has ever been.
Artemis II will then follow a so-called "free-return" trajectory, designed to use the moon's gravity to send it back towards Earth without propulsion.
This leg of the journey will last three or four days, punctuated by re-entry into the atmosphere, set to be one of the mission's most delicate maneuvers.
Once that stage is complete, powerful parachutes will slow the spacecraft, which will splash down in the Pacific Ocean off the California coast.
'Size of a basketball'
"Exactly how close the Artemis II crew will fly to the moon will depend on when they launch," according to NASA, as the moon will "be in a different spot for each of the possible launch dates."
Their flight could take them from 6,437 to 9,656 km above the lunar surface.
Artemis I flew much closer to the moon -- 80 miles above the surface -- but NASA said Artemis II will still go "tens of thousands of miles closer than any human has been in more than 50 years."
"At this distance the moon will appear to the crew to be about the size of a basketball held at arm’s length."
Artemis II is expected to pave the way for future exploration.
The mission is to be followed by Artemis 3, with the goal of "rendezvous in low-Earth orbit" of at least one lunar lander.
The next phase, Artemis 4, aims for a lunar landing in early 2028.