#Moon mission

NASA has released the first downlinked images from the Artemis II crew, including a photograph of Earth taken from Orion after the mission's translunar injection burn.

NASA says Orion has completed the burn that sent Artemis II out of Earth orbit, putting four astronauts on the first crewed lunar flyby mission since Apollo.

NASA’s Artemis 2 mission completed its critical translunar injection burn, sending Orion and its crew out of Earth orbit and toward the moon.

NASA’s Artemis II mission has launched with four astronauts aboard Orion, beginning the first crewed lunar mission in more than five decades and a major test flight for future moon return plans.

NASA’s Artemis 2 crew is safely in Earth orbit after launch, but the mission’s defining test on April 2 is the translunar injection burn that will send Orion toward the moon.

NASA’s Artemis II mission has launched four astronauts on a lunar flyby, marking the first crewed journey around the moon in more than 50 years.

NASA’s Artemis II mission lifted off from Kennedy Space Center on April 1, starting a roughly 10-day crewed test flight around the Moon and marking the first astronaut voyage beyond low Earth orbit in more than 50 years.

NASA’s Artemis 2 launched on April 1, 2026, carrying four astronauts on a free-return mission around the moon and marking humanity’s first trip beyond Earth orbit in more than 50 years.

NASA is preparing to launch Artemis 2 on April 1, 2026, sending four astronauts around the Moon on the agency’s first crewed mission beyond low Earth orbit in more than five decades.

NASA is preparing to launch four astronauts on the 10-day Artemis 2 lunar mission on April 1, with agency officials stressing that the schedule is serious despite the date.

As NASA prepares for Artemis 2, the mission’s basic figures reveal the scale, cost, and symbolism of sending astronauts around the Moon for the first time since Apollo.

A mysterious medical episode that left veteran astronaut Michael Fincke briefly unable to speak is sharpening concerns about crew health as NASA moves toward longer lunar missions.

NASA says Artemis 2 remains on schedule for an April 1 launch window, with agency officials reporting no technical issues currently threatening the first crewed moon mission of the Artemis era.

Artemis 2 astronaut Victor Glover says the moon mission should engage people who do not usually follow spaceflight, framing the program as a public-facing effort rather than a milestone exercise alone.

NASA astronaut Christina Koch says Artemis 2 is moving ahead with urgency as she prepares to become the first woman to travel beyond low Earth orbit on the mission’s round-the-moon flight.

NASA’s first crewed lunar mission since Apollo is approaching the pad, and commander Reid Wiseman is presenting it less as spectacle than as a disciplined, high-stakes operational job.

When Artemis 2 flies its planned 10-day lunar mission, NASA’s astronauts will have access to a private bathroom inside Orion, a sharp contrast with Apollo-era waste systems that offered little privacy.

Artemis II mission specialist Jeremy Hansen is set to become the first Canadian to fly around the moon, capping a long wait that included years of technical, policy, and astronaut-training work.

NASA’s Artemis 2 astronauts are deep into simulations, launch rehearsals, and spacecraft operations training as the agency prepares for humanity’s first crewed mission around the moon in decades.

NASA has released a detailed launch countdown for Artemis II, outlining the key milestones that begin roughly two days before liftoff for the crewed mission around the Moon