Commander
Reid Wiseman
Mission commander and veteran NASA astronaut leading the first crewed Artemis flight.
Artemis II Archive
A historical review of Artemis II, from launch through lunar flyby to a successful Pacific splashdown. This archive keeps the mission overview intact, preserves a replay-style view of the tracker, and points into the full dated mission timeline.
Explore the mission two ways
Open the tracker replay to revisit the front-page experience from the mission itself, or jump into the dated timeline for the full launch-to-splashdown sequence.
1 Apr 22:35 BST
Launch
11 Apr 01:07 BST
Splashdown
9D 1H 31M
Mission Duration
252,756 MI
Peak Distance
Mission Overview
Artemis II became NASA's first crewed mission beyond low Earth orbit since Apollo 17 in 1972. The four-person Orion mission followed a free-return trajectory around the Moon, validating the spacecraft, the Space Launch System, and the operational backbone needed for sustained lunar exploration.
The mission was never just about distance. It tested crewed deep-space navigation, life support, communication links, flight operations, and the human experience of working beyond Earth's protective magnetosphere. Those lessons now feed directly into Artemis III.
Historic result: Artemis II safely carried humans farther from Earth than ever before, then returned its crew to a successful Pacific splashdown.
Historic Review
The mission story is easier to scan here than in a long block of copy, so the big beats stay readable at a glance.
Launch and Earth orbit
Orion lifted off from Kennedy Space Center and completed the first crewed SLS ascent before checkout in low Earth orbit.
Outbound lunar transit
The crew moved into deep-space operations, tested systems, and prepared for the lunar flyby on a free-return path.
Record distance
Artemis II passed the Apollo 13 mark and locked in a new human-distance record of 252,756 miles from Earth.
Safe return
After lunar flyby, re-entry, and recovery operations, the crew completed a successful Pacific splashdown.
Spacecraft and Objectives
Primary objectives
- Validate Orion with crew aboard in deep space.
- Test life support, crew interfaces, navigation, and communications beyond low Earth orbit.
- Exercise the complete launch-to-recovery chain needed before Artemis III.
Spacecraft stack
- Orion Crew Module - crew habitat and re-entry capsule.
- European Service Module - propulsion, power, thermal control, and consumables.
- Space Launch System Block 1 - the rocket that sent Artemis II beyond Earth orbit.
The Crew
Pilot
Victor Glover
Pilot of Artemis II and the first person of color to travel this far into deep space.
Mission Specialist
Christina Koch
Mission specialist and the first woman to travel beyond low Earth orbit to lunar-distance space.
Mission Specialist
Jeremy Hansen
CSA astronaut and the first Canadian to fly into deep space.
Why It Matters
Artemis II was the first crewed mission to travel beyond low Earth orbit since Apollo 17, proving that Orion, the European Service Module, ground systems, mission control, and recovery operations could support astronauts on a deep-space mission again.
It also carried important firsts for the Artemis era: the first woman to travel to lunar-distance space, the first Canadian to fly into deep space, and a new human-distance record from Earth. Artemis II showed that the program is not just theoretical planning anymore; it is a working crewed exploration campaign.
What it unlocked: Artemis II was the proving mission that cleared the way for the next phase of Artemis, whether that means a low-lunar-orbit test profile, a future landing attempt, or the broader return of sustained human exploration beyond Earth orbit.