When does Artemis II reach the Moon?

Artemis II was never planned as a lunar orbit mission, let alone a landing: it was a crewed test flight around the Moon. The Orion spacecraft, named Integrity, carried its four occupants to within 6,545 km (4,067 miles, 3,534 nautical miles) of the lunar surface at closest approach, on April 6, 2026. At that altitude the Moon filled the window, but the vehicle did not brake to stay: it used the geometry of the flyby itself to set up the return trip.

The high point of the profile wasn't the Moon, but what lies behind it. The planned trajectory placed the crew 406,740 km (252,737 miles) from Earth's surface at its farthest point, surpassing the record Apollo 13 had held for 56 years at 400,073 km (248,647 miles). NASA confirmed at the end of the flight that the mark had been broken, making Wiseman, Glover, Koch and Hansen the humans who have traveled farthest from home.

The mission launched on April 1, 2026, from Kennedy Space Center and splashed down in the Pacific off San Diego on April 10 at 17:07 PDT. In between, just ten days to validate what no simulator can certify: life support with a real crew, navigation and communications at lunar distance, and a reentry at lunar return velocity. The program's next step is Artemis III, which NASA has scheduled to launch in 2027.