Artemis II Launches — First Crewed Deep Space Flight Since Apollo 17
97 FOMONASA launched the Artemis II mission on April 1, 2026 at 6:35 p.m. EDT from Launch Complex 39B at Kennedy Space Center, sending commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, mission specialist Christina Koch, and CSA astronaut Jeremy Hansen on a ~10-day free-return trajectory around the Moon. The SLS core stage and Orion spacecraft performed nominally, with solar array deployment confirmed shortly after separation. On April 2, the crew completed a 5-minute, 55-second translunar injection burn that set Orion on course to reach a maximum distance of approximately 252,021 miles from Earth — surpassing the Apollo 13 record. The mission is a crewed test flight, not a lunar landing, and is intended to validate Orion life support, navigation, and deep-space systems ahead of Artemis IV.
Why it matters
The smoothest SLS launch day in the program's history signals genuine operational maturity after years of delays and rollbacks. A successful 10-day flyby is the critical confidence-builder NASA needs to defend the Artemis IV crewed landing timeline for 2028.
Details
Mission
- Vehicle
- SLS Block 1 / Orion Crew Module
- Launch site
- Launch Complex 39B, Kennedy Space Center
Coverage
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space.com ·
Artemis II Crew Completes Translunar Injection BurnOrion completed its 5-minute, 55-second translunar injection burn on April 2, setting the crew on a free-return trajectory that will take them 252,021 miles from Earth — breaking the Apollo 13 distance record.
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spaceflightnow.com ·
Artemis II Crew Blasts Off on Historic Moon MissionNASA's Artemis II crew of four launched April 1 aboard the SLS rocket from Kennedy Space Center for a 10-day free-return trajectory around the Moon — the first crewed deep space flight since Apollo 17 in December 1972.
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nasa.gov ·
NASA's Artemis II: First Crewed Lunar Flyby in Over 50 YearsOfficial NASA launch-day coverage of Artemis II, including confirmation of SLS core stage separation, solar array deployment, and perigee raise burn, as the mission transitions to upper-stage operations.
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Veenie.Space Telemetry
NASA launched the Artemis II mission on April 1, 2026 at 6:35 p.m. EDT from Launch Complex 39B at Ke