Artemis II: Four Astronauts Launch Toward the Moon for the First Time in 54 Years

NASA's Orion capsule, named "Integrity" by the crew, lifts off Wednesday evening carrying Reid Wiseman, Christina Koch, Victor Glover, and Jeremy Hansen on humanity's first lunar crewed mission since 1972.

At 6:24 p.m. ET on Wednesday, April 1, 2026, NASA's Space Launch System rocket is scheduled to lift off from Kennedy Space Center in Florida, carrying four astronauts on a 10-day journey that will loop them around the Moon. If successful, it will be the first time humans have traveled to the lunar vicinity since the Apollo 17 mission on December 7, 1972 — more than half a century ago.

The crew: NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman (mission commander), Christina Koch, and Victor Glover, along with Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen. They will not land on the lunar surface; the Artemis II mission is designed as a crewed test flight — putting the Orion capsule and Space Launch System through their paces with humans aboard for the first time, ahead of a planned lunar landing in 2028.

The Spacecraft: "Integrity"

The crew nicknamed their Orion capsule "Integrity." Wiseman explained the choice to NBC News: "You can be in integrity and you can be out of integrity. And so for us, as the first crew of Artemis, we strive every day to be in integrity."

The crew also designed their mission patch to make "A II" — for "Artemis II" — styled to look like the word "All." Victor Glover explained: "We want everybody to be a part of this mission. There's a lot of little things that will divide us. It'll fill in the cracks and expand, if we let it. And it would be nice if this could just be some caulking, some reinforcement to fill in those spaces, to prevent division."

What Happens During the 10 Days

According to NBC News and NASA, the mission unfolds in distinct phases:

Day 1: Approximately 8.5 minutes after liftoff, the crew will be in space. They will spend the first day orbiting Earth and testing Orion's life-support systems — temperature regulation, air quality, water, food, and waste systems.

Day 2: The spacecraft's main engines fire to set it on a trajectory toward the Moon.

Days 3–6: En route to the Moon, the crew tests the Orion capsule's radiation shielding and demonstrates emergency procedures in preparation for future Artemis missions.

The spacecraft will trace a figure-eight path around Earth and the Moon — a free-return trajectory — before heading back to Earth for splashdown. The astronauts will not enter lunar orbit; the mission is designed to swing around the Moon and return, validating the deep-space systems that will carry humans to the surface on Artemis III.

Why This Matters

NASA previously tested the Space Launch System and Orion capsule without a crew on the Artemis I mission, which launched in November 2022 and successfully flew around the Moon. Artemis II is the first time humans will ride on this hardware.

NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman told NBC News: "Artemis II is the opening act. It's a test mission. No humans have ever flown on that rocket before. Our four astronauts will go out, put the spacecraft through its paces." He described the longer arc of the program: "We're going to establish an enduring presence, realize its scientific, economic value, make it a proving ground for what comes next."

The Nature journal, in a profile of the mission's scientific objectives, noted that the crew will gather data on cosmic radiation exposure during the transit to and from the Moon — data critical for planning the longer-duration surface stays planned in the Artemis III and IV missions.

The Crew in Context

Reid Wiseman is a Navy test pilot and veteran of the International Space Station. Christina Koch holds the record for the longest single spaceflight by a woman (328 days). Victor Glover was the first Black astronaut to serve a long-duration mission on the ISS. Jeremy Hansen, if the mission succeeds, will become the first Canadian to travel to the Moon.

At Kennedy Space Center on Friday, Wiseman spoke to reporters after the crew's arrival: "I think the nation and the world has been waiting a long time to do this again. On behalf of myself, Victor, Christina, Jeremy, we are really pumped to go do this."

Preparations and Launch Window

NASA mission managers began launch preparations on Monday. On Wednesday morning, the agency began the multi-hour process of filling the SLS booster with more than 700,000 gallons of cryogenic propellant, according to NBC News. The crew entered quarantine in the days before launch to limit pathogen exposure.

The four astronauts were to be driven to the launch pad approximately 4 hours and 40 minutes before liftoff. NASA began streaming live coverage on its YouTube channel at 12:50 p.m. ET Wednesday, with the broadcast offering live camera feeds from inside the Orion capsule during the mission.

The Road to the Moon, Again

The Artemis program has been in development since NASA retired the Space Shuttle in 2011. Artemis I — the uncrewed test — validated the SLS booster and the Orion capsule's heat shield during a high-speed lunar return. Artemis II validates crewed life support and deep-space operations. Artemis III, currently planned for 2028, would be the first lunar landing since Apollo 17.

The Washington Post noted that the ultimate goal is a permanent lunar presence — a surface base and, eventually, a staging point for crewed missions to Mars. Whether Congress continues to fund that ambition at the required level remains an open political question; NASA's budget for fiscal 2026 faced significant pressure earlier this year. But for now, for the first time since Richard Nixon was president, human beings are heading back toward the Moon.