NASA has officially confirmed the return of humans to the Moon.
Artemis II, the first crewed mission to venture beyond low Earth orbit since Apollo 17 in 1972, is now set to launch on February 6, 2026. This 10-day flight will send four astronauts on a journey around the Moon, serving as a vital rehearsal for future lunar landings.
The crew consists of NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman (commander), Victor Glover (pilot), and Christina Koch (mission specialist), together with Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen. Koch will make history as the first woman to travel beyond low Earth orbit, while Hansen will become the first Canadian to participate in a lunar mission.
Although Artemis II will not include a landing, it will rigorously test NASA’s Orion spacecraft and deep-space exploration systems in real conditions. After launching from Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the crew will complete an initial orbit around Earth to check life-support and other critical systems. They will then perform a trans-lunar injection burn, using the Moon’s gravity to swing around its far side in a classic figure-eight trajectory.
The mission will take the astronauts more than 230,000 miles from Earth at their farthest point, following a free-return path that allows them to coast back to Earth without additional engine burns. The flight concludes with a high-velocity atmospheric reentry and Pacific Ocean splashdown.
No humans have traveled this far from Earth in more than 50 years—the previous record was set by Apollo 17 in December 1972.
Artemis II paves the way for Artemis III, targeted for 2027, which aims to achieve the first crewed Moon landing of the 21st century.
