Artemis 2 Return to the moon
Who else has been following the Artemis 2 mission, The Artemis program will see the return the moon for maned spaceflight. Artemis 2 will follow in the footsteps of Apollo 8 (December 1968) with a similar mission profile both flying around the moon. Apollo 8 took 68 hours to travel to the Moon, Artemis 2 is expected to take around 96 hours (4 days). The Artemis 2 mission is planned to be 10 Days long with a lunar flyby.
At the this resent time, The SLS rocket with the Orion capsule has rolled out of the VAB to Pad 39B (17 January 2026), the astronauts are in quarantine. The next milestone for this mission will be the wet dress rehearsal. No date has been set yet for launch, depending on the results from the wet dress the first launch window will be the 6th of February 2026 with Nasa saying we will launch when we are ready.
Timeline – Updates (last updated on 29-01-2026)
- Roll out to Pad – 17th January – completed
- Wet Dress rehearsal – Scheduled around the 31st of January
- First posable launch window – 6th – 8th of February 2026
Artemis II will be crewed by a four person team with two astronauts as a backup crew.
Primary crew:
| Crew member | Role | Biography |
|---|---|---|
| Reid Wiseman | Commander | Bio Page |
| Victor Glover | Pilot | Bio Page |
| Christina Koch | Mission Specialist | Bio Page |
| Jeremy Hansen | Mission Specialist | Bio Page |
Backup crew:
| Crew member | Role | Biography |
|---|---|---|
| Andre Douglas | Backup for NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch, he serves as the Astronaut Support Person (ASP) for the prime crew. | Bio Page |
| Jenni Gibbons | Named as the backup for Jeremy Hansen, she supports the Canadian astronaut on the mission. | Bio page |
Artemis II mission map
Orion spacecraft
Orion (Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle or Orion MPCV) is a partially reusable crewed spacecraft used in NASA’s Artemis program. The spacecraft consists of a Crew Module (CM) space capsule designed by Lockheed Martin that is paired with a European Service Module (ESM) manufactured by Airbus Defence and Space.
Capable of supporting a crew of four beyond low Earth orbit, Orion can last up to 21 days undocked and up to six months docked. It is equipped with solar panels, an automated docking system, and glass cockpit interfaces. Orion is launched atop a Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, with a tower launch escape system.
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