Artemis II is a crewed lunar flyby mission, which is the second scheduled flight of the NASA-led Artemis program and the first to carry astronauts aboard the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion spacecraft. The mission's origin is rooted in the goal of returning humans to the Moon, with Artemis II serving as a critical test flight to validate the systems needed for future lunar landings. It was the first time humans traveled beyond low Earth orbit since Apollo 17 in 1972.
The mission, which lasted approximately 10 days, was targeted for launch no earlier than March 2026. The mechanism involves the SLS rocket launching the Orion spacecraft, which then performs a Trans-Lunar Injection burn to set it on a free-return trajectory around the Moon. This trajectory uses the Moon's gravity to slingshot the spacecraft back toward Earth without requiring a second major engine burn. The mission's key function is to test the Orion spacecraft's life-support systems, navigation, communications, and the crew's ability to operate the vehicle in deep space. The crew of four astronauts—including Victor Glover, the first person of color, Christina Koch, the first woman, and Jeremy Hansen, the first non-U.S. citizen to travel beyond Earth orbit—flew around the far side of the Moon, reaching a maximum distance of 252,756 miles from Earth.
Artemis II connects directly to the broader Artemis Program, which aims to establish a sustained human presence on the Moon and eventually send astronauts to Mars. The mission also reinforces the Artemis Accords, an international agreement framing norms for lunar exploration. It built upon the uncrewed Artemis I test flight in 2022 and is a precursor to Artemis III, which is planned to be the first mission to land humans on the lunar surface since the Apollo era. The mission's core hardware, the Orion spacecraft, was amended from the uncrewed flight by including a fully operational environmental control and life-support system to sustain the crew.