On April 1, NASA launched its first crewed mission to the moon in more than 50 years. The Artemis II mission aboard the Orion spacecraft Integrity will last 10 days, travel 695,081 miles and take its four-person crew farther into space than anyone has ever been. 

Artemis II, the second of the five Artemis missions aimed at establishing a sustained presence on the moon, is set to test the technological capabilities of the Orion spacecraft, such as its life-support, propulsion, power, thermal and navigation systems. It will also evaluate the procedures and practices implemented to support astronauts in deep space. 

The four astronauts — Mission Commander Reid Wiseman, Pilot Victor Glover, Mission Specialist Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen, mission specialist from the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) — will not land on the moon, nor will they complete a full lunar orbit. Instead, they will perform a lunar flyby, going around the moon to observe its far side, which has not yet been viewed by the human eye.

Artemis II was supposed to launch earlier this year — first in February, then in March — but was delayed twice due to technical difficulties. Nevertheless, on April 1, some 400,000 spectators gathered in Florida to see the 322-foot-tall rocket blast off. 

The astronauts were joined by over 900 journalists from 18 different countries and representatives from various international space agencies and private companies in the aerospace industry. Among the contractors represented was Boeing, which manufactured the core stage of the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, developed by NASA.  

The SLS is the modern successor to Saturn V, the last rocket used to send astronauts to the moon in December 1972 during the Apollo 17 mission — before any of the Artemis II crew were born. During the Apollo program, NASA sent 24 astronauts to the moon in the 1960s and 70s, 12 of whom walked on its surface. 

Like Saturn V, the SLS is split into different sections called stages, which separate after launch to ensure maximum acceleration to send the crew vehicle, the cutting-edge Orion capsule, to the moon. Orion has been flown in two unmanned missions — Exploration Flight Test-1 in 2014 and Artemis I in 2022 — but Artemis II is its first crewed mission.

The Artemis II mission will demonstrate Orion’s ability to support astronauts in deep space. The crew named their Orion capsule Integrity, which “embodies the foundation of trust, respect, candor, and humility across the crew and the many engineers, technicians, scientists, planners, and dreamers required for mission success.” 

Beyond testing the spacecraft and flight protocols required to ultimately return human beings to the surface of the moon, there are 10 lunar science mission objectives, most of which are focused on gathering data through human observation of the lunar surface. This is because human eyes and brains are sensitive to shifts in color and texture in ways that satellite cameras and robots aren’t. 

For example, during Apollo 17, astronaut Harrison Schmitt observed orange soil on the lunar surface that was actually glass — leading scientists to conclude that it was evidence of ancient volcanic activity. What Schmitt saw, rather than what was captured by a camera, was crucial to that discovery.

The crew underwent specialized training to be able to conduct specific geological observations. Artemis II lunar science lead Kelsey Taylor said that “crew descriptions [of what they see]… is our highest priority data set.” 

The astronauts will also serve as subjects for several human health experiments. While extensive studies have been done on astronauts in low Earth orbit and aboard the International Space Station (ISS), Artemis II is a unique opportunity for scientists to learn about the impacts of deep space, isolation and microgravity on the human body for the first time since 1972.

Because astronaut Christina Koch will be the first woman to travel beyond Earth’s orbit, scientists will be able to gather extensive data on how female bodies experience these conditions. Koch, who spent 328 consecutive days in space and set the record for the longest single spaceflight by a woman, is also one of several crew members whose presence on the mission marks a historic first. Jeremy Hansen will become the first Canadian to travel to the moon, while Victor Glover will be the first Black astronaut to do so.

On April 6, the crew approached the moon from the western lunar hemisphere, which began their journey home after swinging around the far side. On April 7, they will exit the lunar sphere of influence, where the moon’s gravitational pull on the Integrity is stronger than the Earth’s, before landing off the coast of San Diego on April 10. 

Looking forward

Artemis II will fly under several flags, including the U.S. flag intended to fly aboard the cancelled Apollo 18 mission, the Artemis program flag, the United Nations flag and the flags of the 61 signatory nations of the Artemis Accords.

The Artemis Accords are a nonbinding agreement outlining shared principles for peaceful international cooperation in space exploration. Many nations also contributed to the Artemis program, and future Artemis missions have reserved seats for European and Japanese astronauts.

However, the Artemis Accords are not the only international collaboration to establish a long-term lunar presence. In 2021, China and Russia agreed to construct the International Lunar Research Station (ILRS) by 2035, which is now supported by 17 other countries. 

Additionally, China recently announced its intention to send astronauts to walk on the moon by 2030. Though Russian officials have made comments about their own plans to send cosmonauts to the lunar surface, sanctions, fiscal restrictions and technical problems may stall these initiatives.

Now in a “moon race” of its own, the Artemis program is both a scientific endeavor and a geopolitical one, with each mission shaping who will define humanity’s return to the lunar surface. 

Artemis III, another crewed mission planned for next year, will test Orion’s rendezvous and docking with lunar landers, before the 2028 Artemis IV and V missions to the surface of the moon, after which NASA plans to have annual landings in preparation for an eventual Mars mission. 

Artemis II will lay the groundwork for these missions, providing NASA with its first opportunity in more than 50 years to send astronauts to deep space, and marking the beginning of a new chapter in human spaceflight. You can follow the Integrity and its crew, including the April 10 splashdown, at nasa.gov/trackartemis, or on the NASA YouTube channel.