NASA Artemis program – Answer: Artemis II is the first crewed mission of NASA’s Artemis program. This will be the first time since 1972 that humans will travel around the Moon.

The 10-day flight will test the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion spacecraft to ensure that all life-support and navigation systems are safe for future lunar missions. On January 9, NASA said the mission was in its final preparation phase. The earliest targeted launch date is February 6, 2026.

NASA has also identified launch windows in February, March and April 2026. The rocket stack is expected to be rolled out to Launch Pad 39B at the Kennedy Space Center in mid-January for final tests.

Artemis II has a crew of four. The commander is Reed Wiseman; Pilot, Victor Glover; and Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen are mission specialists. Mr.

Hansen is from the Canadian Space Agency, the rest are from NASA. Instead of landing on the Moon, the crew will fly in a hybrid free-return trajectory. Specifically, after flying on SLS, the Orion spacecraft will orbit Earth twice to investigate life support and manual handling capabilities.

Then, it will travel about 10,300 km past the far side of the moon, after which gravity will pull the spacecraft back toward Earth for a splashdown in the Pacific Ocean. This mission is an important test flight.

If successful, NASA will give the greenlight to Artemis III, which aims to land astronauts on the moon’s south pole.