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The Artemis II mission’s Orion capsule departs from Earth en route to a lunar flyby after launching from Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, on April 1, 2026. This moment marks a significant milestone as the spacecraft transitions into the Moon’s gravitational influence, indicating that the Moon’s pull is now stronger than Earth’s.
The capsule will swiftly orbit the Moon, paving the way for the crew to venture farther from Earth than any humans have before. At approximately 4:42 a.m. GMT on Monday, they entered what NASA describes as the lunar sphere of influence, setting the stage for the first lunar flyby since Apollo 17 in 1972.
At that point, the crew was roughly 39,000 miles (63,000 kilometers) from the Moon and about 232,000 miles from Earth, according to a NASA official speaking during a live stream of the event. This historic event also features notable firsts: Victor Glover will become the first person of color to circumnavigate the Moon, Christina Koch will be the first woman to do so, and Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen will be the first non-American to achieve this feat.
During much of their lunar journey, the crew—comprising three Americans and one Canadian—will document different features of the Moon. Already, they have begun observing unfamiliar lunar terrain with the naked eye. NASA released an image taken by the Artemis crew that displays the distant Moon, highlighting the Orientale basin—a large, bullseye-shaped crater—visible from their vantage point.
“This is the first time humans have seen this entire basin with our own eyes,” NASA stated. Christina Koch, speaking live to children in Canada, expressed excitement about witnessing the basin, often called the Moon’s “Grand Canyon,” for the first time.
Near the end of their flyby, the crew will observe a solar eclipse, where the Sun is obscured by the Moon, revealing only the solar corona. They will also test their Orion crew survival systems suits—orange suits designed not only for launch and reentry but also equipped to provide up to six days of breathable air in emergencies.
These astronauts are the first to don the Orion Crew Survival System suits in space. They will evaluate how quickly they can don and pressurize the suits as part of their testing procedures. Although they will not land on the lunar surface, they are expected to set a record for the greatest distance from Earth during their pass around the Moon.
Over the coming day, they will be on the Moon’s far side, breaking the previous distance record and collecting critical data about their spacecraft. NASA administrator Jared Isaacman mentioned during a CNN interview that this data will be vital for future missions, including Artemis 3 in 2027 and the lunar landing planned for Artemis 4 in 2028.
The Artemis crew has completed manual piloting exercises and reviewed the lunar flyby plan, focusing on mapping and photographing surface features during their orbit. Isaacman emphasized the importance of understanding the spacecraft’s life support systems, noting that this crewwas the first to fly aboard the new spacecraft, making their observations especially valuable for upcoming missions.
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