Overview
- NASA completed the Flight Readiness Review and polled the mission go, targeting liftoff no earlier than April 1, 2026 pending final closeout.
- The SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft are slated to move to Launch Pad 39B on March 19 for final prelaunch work.
- Artemis II will be a roughly 10-day, free-return flight around the Moon without a landing, reaching a closest approach of about 4,000–6,000 miles.
- The crew comprises NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch, and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen.
- Program plans now shift the first crewed lunar landing to Artemis IV in 2028, with a reimagined Artemis III targeting a mid-2027 launch without a landing.