Image credit: NASA (public domain)For more than half a century, no human being had traveled beyond low Earth orbit. In April 2026, that finally changed. NASA's Artemis II mission carried four astronauts around the Moon and back, and the whole world watched.
Meet the Crew
Artemis II was the first crewed flight of NASA's Artemis program. The four astronauts were:
Reid Wiseman – Commander
Victor Glover – Pilot
Christina Koch – Mission Specialist
Jeremy Hansen – Mission Specialist (Canadian Space Agency)
Koch became the first woman to travel to the Moon's vicinity, and Hansen became the first non-American to do so.
Launch and Journey
The Space Launch System rocket lifted off from Kennedy Space Center on April 1, 2026. Aboard the Orion spacecraft, named Integrity, the crew spent several days traveling through deep space, testing life support, navigation and communication systems.
[Add launch photo here. Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls]
The Lunar Flyby
On April 6, Orion swung around the far side of the Moon, passing about 4,067 miles (6,545 km) above its surface. During the flyby the crew reached a maximum distance of roughly 252,756 miles (406,771 km) from Earth, breaking the record set by Apollo 13.
Communication with Earth was briefly lost as the spacecraft passed behind the Moon. Then came one of the most beautiful moments of the mission: an Earthset, with our blue planet slipping below the lunar horizon. It echoes the famous "Earthrise" photo taken by Apollo 8 in 1968.
[Add Earthset photo here. Credit: NASA / Christina Koch]
The crew also witnessed the Moon passing in front of the Sun, a total solar eclipse seen from deep space.
Splashdown
After about nine days and 700,000 miles of travel, Orion splashed down in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of California on April 10, 2026. The mission validated the spacecraft's systems, its heat shield and crew procedures.
Why It Matters
Artemis II was a test flight, but its meaning goes far beyond engineering:
It proved that Orion can safely carry humans around the Moon.
It paves the way for future Artemis missions, including landings near the lunar south pole.
It inspired a new generation, with many people calling the global excitement "Moon joy."
[Add photo of Koch looking at Earth here. Credit: NASA]
Final Thoughts
Looking at those photos of Earth, small and fragile against the dark sky, it is hard not to feel hopeful. We went back to the Moon, and this time we are going to stay.
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