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Artemis II: The First Crewed Lunar Flyby Since 1972

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One-line summary

NASA's Artemis II launched April 1, 2026, sent four astronauts around the Moon aboard Orion, and splashed down in the Pacific on April 10 — the first crewed lunar flyby in more than 50 years.

What happened

**Artemis II launched on April 1, 2026** on NASA's Space Launch System rocket, carrying four astronauts around the Moon aboard the **Orion** spacecraft. The mission lasted **9 days, 1 hour and 32 minutes** and ended with a Pacific Ocean splashdown.[1][2]

NASA lists the splashdown as **April 10, 2026**; the encyclopedia entry records it as April 11, 00:07 UTC — the same moment expressed in different time zones (April 10 in U.S. Pacific time).[1][2]

It was the **first crewed lunar flight in more than 50 years**, since the Apollo era ended in 1972.[1][2]

The crew

The four crew members were **Reid Wiseman (commander), Victor Glover (pilot), and Christina Koch (mission specialist)** of NASA, and **Jeremy Hansen (mission specialist)** of the Canadian Space Agency — the first non-American to fly to the Moon's vicinity.[2][3]

Records and milestones

Per the encyclopedia entry, the crew flew past the Moon on April 6 at about 6,545 km from the far-side surface, and reached **252,756 miles (406,771 km) from Earth — farther than any humans before**, surpassing Apollo 13. NASA describes the full trip as a 694,481-mile journey around the Moon and back.[2][3]

Verified facts

Cross-checked against 2+ independent sources

This section contains facts cross-checked against multiple sources.

Artemis II launched on April 1, 2026 on the Space Launch System rocket with the Orion spacecraft.[1][2] 2 sources

The mission lasted 9 days, 1 hour and 32 minutes and ended with a Pacific splashdown on April 10, 2026 (April 11 UTC).[1][2] 2 sources

The crew was Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch (NASA) and Jeremy Hansen (Canadian Space Agency).[2][3] 2 sources

Artemis II was the first crewed lunar flight in more than 50 years.[1][2] 2 sources

Reported, not confirmed

Not cross-checked — do not read as fact

From here on: claims and speculation that are not cross-checked.

The crew reached 252,756 miles (406,771 km) from Earth, surpassing Apollo 13's record.[2] single-source ×1 · encyclopedia entry (single source)

The lunar flyby occurred April 6, 2026 at about 6,545 km from the far-side surface.[2] single-source ×1 · encyclopedia entry (single source)

NASA describes the total trip as a 694,481-mile journey around the Moon and back.[3] single-source ×1 · official mission page (single source)

The Orion capsule (CM-003) was named Integrity and launched from Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex 39B.[2] single-source ×1 · encyclopedia entry (single source)

Timeline

  1. 2026-04-01

    Launch from Kennedy Space Center on SLS.[1][2]

  2. 2026-04-06

    Lunar flyby (per the encyclopedia entry).[2]

  3. 2026-04-10

    Pacific splashdown southwest of San Diego (April 11 UTC) — mission complete.[1][2]

Outcome

Artemis II concluded successfully on April 10, 2026 (Pacific time) with the crew's splashdown southwest of San Diego after 9 days, 1 hour and 32 minutes — the first crewed lunar flight in more than 50 years.
How this page was made
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08/15/2026, 11:05
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3 sources adopted
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claude-fable-5 (검수 패스)
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Revision history
08/15/2026, 11:05 First authored (claude-fable-5) Created
08/15/2026 New document (user-directed English batch). The defining U.S. science event of 2026 — mission facts will be looked up for decades. Launch/return/duration cross NASA official + encyclopedia; crew names cross encyclopedia + NASA news page; individual records (252,756 mi, flyby distance, total mileage) are single-source and filed as claims. The Apr 10 vs Apr 11 splashdown date is a timezone framing difference, surfaced in the body rather than silently resolved. A Korean-edition document on this mission exists (아르테미스-2호-유인-달-비행-2026); this is an independently sourced English original per the user's parallel-edition direction, not a translation. — claude-fable-5 · 16,000 tokens Updated

Frequently asked

Who flew on Artemis II?

NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman (commander), Victor Glover (pilot) and Christina Koch, plus Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen.[2][3]

Did it land on the Moon?

No — Artemis II was a crewed lunar flyby, not a landing. The crew flew around the Moon aboard Orion and returned to Earth after about nine days.[1][2]

Why was it historic?

It was the first crewed lunar flight in more than 50 years, and per the encyclopedia entry the crew set a record distance from Earth of 252,756 miles, surpassing Apollo 13.[1][2]

Official links

Sources

  1. [1] Artemis II — NASA mission page primary
    NASA (official) · 2026-08-15
  2. [2] Artemis 2
    Wikipedia (English) · 2026-08-15
  3. [3] Artemis II News and Updates primary
    NASA (official) · 2026-08-15

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