Artemis II — Return to the Moon After 50 Years
Artemis II marks humanity’s return to deep space after 50 years, as astronauts successfully travelled around the Moon and set a new distance record from Earth.
In a historic return to deep space, NASA has successfully sent astronauts around the Moon under its Artemis program, marking the first such mission in over 50 years.
The last time humans travelled this far was during the Apollo missions between the late 1960s and early 1970s, when astronauts walked on the lunar surface and returned safely. However, after Apollo 17 in 1972, human deep-space missions were stopped due to high costs and shifting priorities towards space stations like the International Space Station.
To revive lunar exploration, NASA launched the Artemis program with the goal of returning humans to the Moon, including women and international astronauts, building a long-term lunar presence, and preparing for future missions to Mars.
Under this initiative, Artemis II successfully carried four astronauts—Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Jeremy Hansen—around the Moon. The journey began on 3 April 2026, following nearly three years of intense training focused on scientific observation and deep-space conditions.
The mission was launched aboard the Orion spacecraft and lasted for 10 days. On 6 April 2026, the crew reached a major milestone by travelling 252,760 miles (406,778 km) from Earth, surpassing the record set by Apollo 13, making them the farthest humans ever from Earth.
During the mission, the astronauts closely observed the Moon’s surface, identifying craters and capturing high-quality images. A small unnamed crater was proposed to be named “Carroll,” while another was named “Integrity” after the spacecraft’s call-sign. The Orion spacecraft also came within 6,440 km of the Moon.
The mission included an emotional moment when Jeremy Hansen spoke about Carroll, the late wife of Reid Wiseman, who passed away in 2020 after battling cancer. The crew shared a quiet moment in her memory during the journey.
By 7 April, the observations were completed, and the crew began their return to Earth. The mission’s success reflects years of preparation and marks a major step forward in human space exploration, with several high-quality images from space now shared on social media.
