Artemis 2 crew Christina Koch, Victor Glover, Jeremy Hansen and Reid Weisman wearing Solar Eclipse glasses on board the Orion capsule named Integrity. On the right, the outbound patch on top of the return patch. The Earth behind the crew, as seen from Orion’s window (NASA, 2026).
NASA’s Artemis 2 mission successfully completed a flyby to the Moon and returned safely after a 9-day historical mission. The crew departed from Florida, USA and splashed down in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of California.
Go to
Updates
11 Apr 2026: Artemis 2 back to Huston.16 Nov 2022: Artemis 1 Launch.
Background
NASA's Artemis Programme.Artemis plans for the Moon.
Moonwalkers.
Artemis Accords.
Artemis Goddess of the Moon.
UPDATES
Artemis 2 returns to Huston, Texas
– 11 April 2026
On 11 April 2026, the crew from Artemis 2 held a news conference at Ellington Field, Huston, Texas, USA.
The event was opened by Norm Knight, NASA Flight Operations Director, followed by Vanessa Wyche, NASA Johnson Space Centre Director, and finally, Jared Isaacman, NASA Administrator who welcomed the Artemis 2 crew back to the stage where they were greeted by a standing ovation.
Mr Isaacman thanked President Donald Trump and NASA partners in Congress, the agency’s workforce, the international partners including the European and Canadian Space agencies, and the American Taxpayers. “There is no doubt that there is a price to pay when it comes to exploring the Cosmos, but there is also a return, in the jobs it creates, the technologies that improve life on Earth and the inspiration it sparks on those who choose to follow”.
Astronaut Christina Koch described a crew as a team where everyone has the same needs, must face the same threats and must care for each other no matter what because they are in the same journey. When watching the Earth suspended alone in the blackness of space, she realised that Planet Earth is analogous to a crew.
Jeremy Hansen was praised by Lisa Campbell, Canadian Space Agency President, for representing “the best of what it means to be Canadian, exemplifying the deepest values of discipline, humility and hard work”.
US Representative Chairman Brian Babin, representing the US Congress and the district of Texas, said that the Artemis 2 crew inspired not only America but the entire World and generations of humans that will come after them. He said that “The United States is ready for this challenge and ready to lead. As the US leads in space, they carry the principles of Freedom, Innovation and Opportunity”.
Michael Cloud, US Representative of the congressional district of Texas thanked the crew for inspiring everyone again.
At the end of the conference, Commander Reid Weisman addressed the NASA astronauts-in-training who had attended the event and promised that the Artemis 2 crew would support them at every step of the way in their journey to the Moon.
Artemis 2 Crew on stage, presented by Jared Isaacman, NASA Administrator, Huston, Texas, USA (NASA, 11 April 2026).
Artemis 2 astronauts Reid Wiseman, Christina Koch, Jeremy Hansen and Victor Glover deliver their personal messages to the world,Huston, Texas, USA (NASA, 11 April 2026).
Speakers at the Welcome Back Artemis 2 event: Norm Knight, Jared Isaacman, Vanessa Wyche, Lisa Campbell, Brian Babin and Michael Cloud,Huston, Texas, USA (NASA, 11 April 2026).
Watch the full video “Artemis II Crew returns to Huston” (1hr).
--O--
MORE COMING SOON TO REPLACE THE BELOW
Artemis 1 – Launch 16 November 2022
Artemis 1 was an uncrewed Moon-orbiting mission that launched on 16 November 2022 from Kennedy Space Centre in Cape Canaveral, Florida, USA. It was the first major spaceflight of NASA’s Artemis Programme, with the main objective of testing its components and the land support systems.
Artemis 1 launch on 16 November 2022 (NASA, 2022).The mission was an integrated system that consisted of the Orion spacecraft, the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and the ground systems at the launch site.
The first two launch attempts were cancelled due to a faulty engine temperature on 29 August 2022 and Hydrogen leak during fuelling on 03 September 2022. Each time, the SLS was rolled out and back to NASA’s Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) where building and repairs were carried out.
The Artemis 1 vehicle was a Block 1 variant of the SLS: A core stage, two solid rocket boosters and an upper stage. The core stage had x4 RS-25D refurbished engines previously flown by the Space Shuttle around the turn of the century. The boosters also come from the Shuttle era and each contains a single motor and nozzle. The upper stage had a single RL10B-2 engine.
At launch, the core and boosters produced 4,000 tons of thrust at liftoff.
Journey and destination
After liftoff, the solid rocket boosters separated and splashed down on the ocean. Later, the Launch Abort System was jettisoned and the core stage separated to descend and also splash down.
Once in Earth’s orbit, the upper stage gained speed with a Perigee Raise burn and then a Trans-Lunar Injection (TLI) burn that placed the Orion spacecraft on a trajectory to the Moon. At 3,700 km of altitude, Orion separated from the second stage to continue towards the Moon.
Outside Earth’s orbit most of the CubeSats were deployed in 2 stages, the last one was released near the moon’s orbit.
Three weeks later Orion came within 130km from the lunar surface and entered Lunar Orbit. Orion reached a distance of 432,210 km away from Earth becoming the farthest distance from Earth travelled by an Earth-returning human-rated spacecraft, a record previously held by After Apollo 13 (400,171 km).
Orion orbited the Moon from 25 November to 01 December 2022, when it began its journey back home.
Artemis 1: Left: Orion looking back at the Earth, 16 November. Right: Orion approaching the Moon, 20 November 2022 (NASA, 2022).
Artemis 1: Orion closest to the Moon, 04 December 2022 (NASA, 2022).
The following graphic shows a summary of Artemis 1 mission. The journey consisted of 9 days, 10 hr outbound, 6 days in lunar orbit and 9 days 19 hr return, making a total of 25 days.
Artemis 1: Mission summary (NASA, 2022).
Artemis 1 Payload
Mannequins with sensors. Three mannequins were installed in the Orion Spacecraft:
- NASA’s “Captain Moonikin Campos” that recorded data on what the crew will experience.
- German Aerospace Centre’s “Helga” phantom torso measured radiation exposure without a vest. Its dosimetres detected radiation levels at stem-cell-concentration tissue locations.
- Israel Space Agency’s “Zohar” phantom torso tested the AstroRad radiation vest. The comparison provided data on the effectiveness of the vest.
Mannequins: Captain Moonikin Campos on the cockpit wearing orange.Left: AstroRad vest. Right from top: Helga and Zohar wearing the Astrorad vest (NASA, 2022).
Technology demonstration: Amazon and Cisco in collaboration with Lockheed Martin developed “Callisto” that uses video conferencing and the Amazon Alexa Virtual Assistant to interact with mission control. They also posted messages from the public that were displayed at Orion.
The zero-G indicators selected by the teams: NASA sent a plush doll of “Snoopy” wearing an orange astronaut suit, and ESA sent “Shaun the Sheep” wearing an ESA blue suit.
Orion capsule interior showing Captain Moonikin Campos on the pilot seat, the Callisto techno demonstration in the centre.Right: Floating Snoopy (green circle), enlarged for better view. Also, Shaun the Sheep from ESA (NASA. 2022).
Artemis 1 CubeSats
A CubeSat is a small satellite with a limit of 2 kg and a form factor of 10 cm. 10 CubeSats were carried in the Stage Adapter above the Second Stage. From those, 7 were selected by 3 groups at NASA and 3 were submitted by international partners.
- ArgoMoon by the Italian Space Agency, designed by Argotec to image the Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage. Operational.
- EQUULEUS by the Japanese Space Agency (JAXA) and the University of Tokyo to image the Earth’s plasmasphere and craters on the far side of the Moon. Operational.
- OMOTENASHI by JAXA, a lunar probe that would have attempted to land using solid rocket motors. The CubeSat failed to start.
- BioSentinel by NASA to detect effects of deep space radiation on yeast card rehydrated in space. Operational.
- Lunar IceCube by Morehead State Univesity, USA., to orbit the moon and detect water and organic compoundsin the surface and exosphere with imfrared spectrometry. Contact was lost after launch.
- Lunar Polar Hydrogen Mapper by NASA’s SIMPLEx programme aimed at orbiting the Moon and look for lunar water ice in permanently shadowed craters using a neutron detector. Engines failed to ignite and was lost.
- LunIR by Lockheed Martin to flyby the Moon and record thermography. Communications were lost and no data was collected during flyby.
- Near-Earth Asteroid Scout by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, would have flown by a near-earth asteroid using a Solar Sail. Communications were lost after launch and was lost.
- Solar Particles by the Southwest Research Institute, USA, was to orbit the Sun and study particle and magnetic activity. Contact was lost after launch.
- Team Miles by Fluid and Reason, USA., to demonstrate low-thrust plasma propulsion in deep space. Contact was not established after deployment.
Of the 10 CubeSats launched with Artemis 1, three remained operational after deployment. The remaining 7 failed.
END of UPDATES
BACKGROUND
NASA’s Artemis Programme
The Artemis Programme was established in 2017 with the goal of returning to the Moon through five increasingly complex missions. The main element is the Space Launch System (SLS), a super heavy-lift expendable launch vehicle derived from developments that started with the Space Shuttle (1981-2011).
For each launch, the central Core Stage, built by Boeing, reuses and expends 4 pre-flown RS-25D refurbished engines demounted from the Space Shuttles (14 engines were left over). The stage contains liquid Oxygen and Hydrogen.
Solid Boosters Releasing fromthe Space Shuttle (NASA, 2007).
SLS also uses two solid rocket boosters, also derived and refurbished from the Shuttle, they are filled with a composite propellant composed of Aluminium powder as fuel and Ammonium perchlorate as oxidiser, bound together with Polybutadiene acrylonitrile, a propellant fuel.
After 10 years of development, the first SLS launched from Kennedy Space Centre in Florida on 16 November 2022 carrying the Artemis 1 mission (see below).
Space Launch System (SLS): Top: SLS at launch. 3D model. Solid Boosters. Bottom: Core Stage rollout from the building station (NASA, 2011).
