On Friday, 6 April, 2026, history was made. For the first time in over half a century, humanity ventured back to the moon.
NASA’s Artemis II mission, comprising of astronauts Reid Wisemann, Victor Glover, Christina Koch (pronounced “Cook”), and Jeremy Hansen launched on April 1 from Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The crew then spent over a day in orbit around Earth, performing system checks and ensuring their spacecraft was fully operational.
Once ready, the crew commenced translunar injection, a procedure which raised their orbit until it intersected that of the moon. This put them on a trajectory which would take them farther into space than any human before them and send them flying by the moon.
During the voyage, the crew had the chance to observe the Earth from farther away than any humans since the Apollo program. While traveling through the Earth’s shadow, the crew snapped a first-of-its-kind photo. The image looks like the day side of the planet, but a closer look reveals city lights.
This image shows the night side of Earth.
Unfortunately, not every aspect of the spacecraft worked perfectly. Several times throughout the mission, the crew reported issues with the onboarded toilet. However, the ingenuity of both the crew and mission control prevailed. Upon solving one of the issues, Koch proudly declared “I am the space plumber.”
The big moment came on the evening of April 6. This is when the crew would perform their lunar flyby. Their path had them pass behind the moon from Earth’s perspective before the moon’s gravity slung them back towards home.
During the flyby, the crew captured numerous images of the lunar surface and of Earth as seen from the moon. These are sights that have not been seen by humans since Apollo 17 in 1972.
While passing behind the moon, the crew lost contact with mission control for about 40 minutes. This was planned, as it was known that the moon would stop all radio signals traveling from Earth to the spacecraft. Upon regaining connection, the crew was greeted by none other than US President Donald Trump.
During the call, Trump praised the crew, saying “Today you’ve made history. You’ve made all of America really proud.” He added, “You’ve really inspired the entire world.”
After coming back around the moon, the crew began their 4-day voyage home.
Reentry into Earth’s atmosphere began around 7:45 p.m. on the evening of April 10. Throughout the next 20 minutes, the Orion capsule named Integrity would decelerate from about 25,000 miles per hour to around 300. The spacecraft then descended gently under parachutes which slowed it the rest of the way.
Splashdown occurred at 8:07 p.m. (EST) about 50 miles off the coast of San Diego.
Artemis II marked the beginning of a new age of space exploration. For the first time this century, humanity has traveled beyond the protection of Earth’s magnetic field and into deep space.
The next step is Artemis III, a mission which will test the next generation of lunar landers near Earth. Following this, the stage will be set for humanity’s return to the surface of the moon with Artemis IV. Following this, Artemis V and beyond will begin the work to establish a moon base. The long-term goal of the Artemis program is to establish a permanent settlement on the moon. This will teach us what we need as we look to send humans to Mars and beyond.