Artemis II Mission Recap: Moon or Bust!

It’s been about a month since four of NASA’s astronauts embarked on a mission to fly by the Moon. The Artemis II flyby started on April 1, 2026 and ended April 10, 2026, proving to be one of the most historic space missions yet. 

The sole purpose of the mission was to lay the groundwork for viable lunar exploration and to validate that Orion’s spacecraft and their Space Launch System (SLS) can safely transport humans to deep space. The mission wanted to help verify that life can be supported there for future trips by testing systems of navigation, communications hardware, and life-support; and it was a success. 

Artemis II achieved many milestones, including being the first crewed flight to break the 53-year streak of going to deep space since Apollo 17 in 1972. They reached a distance of 252,756 miles, breaking the record for the farthest distance humans have ever traveled from Earth, which was originally set by Apollo 13’s 248,000 miles. The four-person crew’s inclusivity also served as an inspiration to many, which consisted of the first person of color, the first woman, the first non-American, and the oldest person to travel around the moon.

  Because this successful mission was a test to see if later space explorations to the Moon, and eventually Mars, were possible, plans for upcoming space missions spanning from 2027-2029 are now set in stone. This includes the confirmation of Artemis III’s low Earth orbit (LEO) launch in late 2027, Artemis IV’s first crewed lunar landing in 2028, another Artemis V lunar landing the same year, and hopefully more Artemis VI+ missions to come. Either way, as the Artemis astronauts got to share an eye-opening experience with the world, we are all inspired to see what else NASA has to bring.