National Current Affairs
NASA’s Artemis II Mission Launched
- 03 Apr 2026
- 3 min read
Why in News?
NASA successfully launched the Artemis II mission, sending four astronauts on a historic crewed journey around the Moon.
Key Points
- Mission: Artemis II is the first crewed flight of the Orion spacecraft under NASA’s Artemis programme, designed to test deep-space exploration systems before future lunar landings.
- Artemis II will not land on the Moon; instead, the spacecraft will perform a lunar flyby, in which astronauts will travel around the Moon and return to Earth without landing on the lunar surface.
- NASA’s last mission to the Moon was Apollo 17, which was launched in December 1972.
- Launch Details: The mission lifted off on 1st April 2026 aboard the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket from Kennedy Space Center in Florida, USA.
- Mission Duration: The mission is expected to last about 10 days, following a free-return trajectory around the Moon before splashing down in the Pacific Ocean.
- Crew Members: The four-member crew includes NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman (commander), Victor Glover, and Christina Koch, along with Jeremy Hansen from the Canadian Space Agency.
- Jeremy Hansen will make history by becoming the first Canadian astronaut and the first non-American to travel to the Moon.
- Victor Glover (Pilot) will become the first person of color to travel beyond low-Earth orbit.
- Christina Koch will be the first woman to travel to the Moon’s vicinity.
- Objective: The mission aims to test life-support systems, spacecraft performance, and deep-space navigation, paving the way for future lunar landing missions under the Artemis programme.
| Read More: Artemis II Mission, Artemis I mission |
