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As the crew of Artemis II—NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen—prepare to splash down on Earth after a landmark 10‑day voyage around the moon, attention now turns to their return.
What Is Artemis 2?
Artemis II is NASA’s first crewed test flight of the Artemis program. It sends four astronauts aboard the Orion spacecraft on a mission that loops around the moon and returns to Earth.
The crew lifted off at 6:35 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time on April 1 from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
NASA says Artemis II’s goal is to conduct the first crewed test flight of the Orion spacecraft in lunar space, confirming that its systems can safely support astronauts on a deep‑space mission. The flight is designed to validate spacecraft operations, crew support, emergency procedures and data collection to prepare for future lunar missions and a sustained human presence on the moon.
Astrophysicist Ehud Behar from the Technion — Israel Institute of Technology was consulted for this article.