Artemis II Sets Humans Back on a Moon Flyby Path

NASA’s Artemis II will launch four astronauts—Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Jeremy Hansen—aboard the Space Launch System for a 10‑day, ~600,000‑mile round‑trip lunar flyby, the first crewed Moon visit since Apollo 17. The Orion capsule will perform translunar injection, loop behind the Moon for a 30–50 minute comms blackout, and return to Earth, laying groundwork for Artemis III/IV and a sustained lunar presence while offering rare views of the Moon’s far side, including Orientale and the South Pole–Aitken basin.