Artemis II Mission

NASA’s SLS (Space Launch System) rocket lifted off from Launch Pad 39B at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 6:35 p.m. EDT Wednesday, sending four astronauts aboard the Orion spacecraft on a planned test flight around the Moon and back.

The successful launch is the beginning of an approximately 10-day mission for NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut Jeremy Hansen. As the first crewed mission of NASA’s Artemisprogram, among its objectives, the flight will demonstrate life support systems for the first time with crew and lay the foundation for an enduring presence on the Moon ahead of future missions to Mars.

After reaching space, Orion deployed its solar array wings, enabling the spacecraft to receive energy from the Sun, while the crew and engineers on the ground immediately began transitioning the spacecraft from launch to flight operations to start checking out key systems.

If all systems remain healthy, mission controllers will give Orion’s European-built service module a command to conduct the translunar injection burn on Thursday, April 2. This move is an approximately six-minute firing to send the spacecraft on a trajectory that will simultaneously carry crew around the Moon, while also harnessing lunar gravity to slingshot them back to Earth.

During a planned multi-hour lunar flyby on Monday, April 6, the astronauts will take photographs and provide observations of the Moon’s surface as the first people to lay eyes on some areas of the far side. Although the lunar far side will only be partially illuminated during the flyby, the conditions should create shadows that stretch across the surface, enhancing relief and revealing depth, ridges, slopes and crater rims that are often difficult to detect under full illumination. Crew observations and other human health scientific investigations during the mission, such as AVATAR, will inform science during future Moon missions.

Following a successful lunar flyby, the astronauts will return to Earth and splash down in the Pacific Ocean on April 10th.

How to Watch:

• Yet another Artemis tracker

• NASA's Artemis II Live Mission Coverage (Official Broadcast) This feed will provide continuous coverage of Artemis II mission activities with live commentary

• NASA's Artemis II Live Views from Orion As bandwidth allows, this stream will feature live views from Artemis II's Orion spacecraft, without commentary

• Other ways to watch

• Artemis Real-time Orbit Website

• Artemis Live tracking map from ISSInfo.net

• Multi-Camera views of launch

• Multi-Camera views during flight

• Lunar Fly-by Video

• Lunar Fly-by Images

Updates are available on the Artemis blog.

Timeline of Key Events

Search Artemis II Press Album