Artemis II

Artemis II will carry a crew of four astronauts—Commander Reid Wiseman, Pilot Victor Glover, Mission Specialist Christina Koch (NASA), and Mission Specialist Jeremy Hansen (CSA)—on a 10-day lunar free-return trajectory. The mission will test Orion's life support systems with humans aboard, validate proximity operations around the spent SLS upper stage in high Earth orbit, and fly around the far side of the Moon at an altitude of approximately 7,400 km before returning to Earth splashdown.

🚀 Explore in 3D Atlas

Agency / Country

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) (United States)

Mission Status

PLANNED

Launch / Target Year

2025

Spacecraft / Type

Orion Spacecraft (CM-003 / ESM-2)

Landing Site Zone

—

Surface Coordinates

N/A

Mission Imagery & Gallery

Artemis II photograph 1: NASA — Artemis II crew portrait: Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Jeremy Hansen (NASA / Public Domain) — CONCEPT ART — NASA — Artemis II crew portrait: Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Jeremy Hansen (NASA / Public Domain) — CONCEPT ART

Primary Achievement

First crewed flight of NASA's Artemis program and the first crewed lunar mission since Apollo 17 in 1972.

Mission Objectives

Demonstrate Orion life support, crew interfaces, and manual flying qualities with human crew
Perform proximity operations demonstration with SLS Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage (ICPS)
Complete crewed lunar free-return flyby trajectory and high-velocity skip atmospheric entry

Timeline Events

2023-04-03 — NASA and CSA officially announced the four-astronaut crew in Houston, Texas.
2024-05-15 — Orion spacecraft altitude and vacuum chamber testing completed at Kennedy Space Center.
2025-09-01 — Target launch window for crewed lunar free-return flyby mission from LC-39B.

Related Missions

Artemis I (2022) · NASA
Apollo 8 (1968) · NASA
Apollo 11 (1969) · NASA

Historical & Technical Sources

Ready to view Artemis II in 3D?

Interactive 3D Moon viewer with exact site coordinates, sun position, and surrounding topography.

🚀 View Artemis II on 3D Moon