NASA’s Artemis II Mission Launched | 03 Apr 2026

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.