It's Official: NASA Artemis II Moon Mission Has Launched – Latest Pics, Details

NASA launched Artemis II from Kennedy Space Center, Florida, on Wednesday, 1 April 2026 at 22:35 UTC.

A four-person crew is aboard the Orion spacecraft for about a 10-day journey to fly around the Moon and return.

The crew members are commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, and mission specialists Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen.

This is the first crewed travel beyond low-Earth orbit since the Apollo era and the first human visit to the Moon since 1972.

Before heading to the Moon, the team will spend roughly 23.5 hours in Earth orbit performing system checks and settling in.