Artemis II Completes First Crewed Lunar Flyby Since 1972

NASA's Artemis II mission concluded successfully on April 10, 2026, when the Orion spacecraft carrying four astronauts splashed down in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of San Diego, California, marking the first crewed lunar voyage since 1972 and setting a new record for the farthest distance traveled by humans from Earth.

The 10-day mission, which began with a launch from Florida, saw Commander Reid Wiseman, Pilot Victor Glover, Mission Specialist Christina Koch—all from NASA—and Mission Specialist Jeremy Hansen from the Canadian Space Agency orbit the Moon in a flyby trajectory. The crew traveled approximately 694,000 miles, surpassing the previous record of 248,655 miles set by Apollo 13 in 1970. During the journey, they conducted tests on the spacecraft's life support systems, emergency procedures, spacesuits, and other critical components essential for future deep-space exploration. The astronauts captured more than 7,000 images of the lunar surface, including its terminator line, and provided real-time descriptions of the Moon's features from mission control. A six-hour flyby brought them close to the lunar surface, with a brief period of lost communications while passing...