NASA’s Artemis II to Fly Four Astronauts Around the Moon in February

NASA makes final preparations for the rollout of its Artemis II mega Moon rocket, with a human flight around the Moon planned as early as the first week of February. Artemis II comprises a four-astronaut, 10-day mission around the Moon and back to Earth, testing systems ahead of Artemis III.

NASA Artemis II Mission and Artemis Program :

Dimension	Key Details
Mission positioning	Artemis II is the 2nd scheduled flight of the Artemis program and the first crewed Artemis mission.
Moon-vicinity milestone	Artemis II provides for the first mission to carry humans to the Moon’s vicinity since 1972.
Launch system and spacecraft	Artemis II is the first to fly astronauts aboard the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion spacecraft.
Relation to Artemis I	Artemis I successfully flew Orion around the Moon without astronauts in 2022; Artemis II mandates humans travel aboard Orion and venture beyond low Earth orbit.
Crew composition	The mission comprises three NASA astronauts and one astronaut from the Canadian Space Agency (CSA).
Mission duration and profile	Four astronauts take a 10-day flight around the Moon and return to Earth.
Payloads on Artemis II	Several payloads fly aboard Artemis II to expand knowledge of space radiation, human health and behavior, and space communications.
Data collection focus	Astronauts and mission controllers collect data on Orion and crew performance to assess readiness to send people to the Moon’s surface.
Reentry and landing	Orion undergoes high-speed reentry through Earth’s atmosphere and splashes down in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of San Diego.
Artemis program description	Artemis is NASA’s program to return astronauts to the Moon, preparing the way for human missions to Mars.
Artemis program stated objectives	The program provides for landing the first woman and first person of colour on the Moon and exploring the lunar surface.
Lunar Gateway	The Artemis program includes the construction of the Lunar Gateway space station in orbit around the Moon.
Artemis III	Artemis III is the first crewed Moon landing mission since Apollo 17 in 1972 and aims to deliver astronauts to the lunar surface by 2028; crew spends a week on the Moon performing scientific studies before returning to Earth.
Artemis IV	Artemis IV provides for delivering a core part of a new lunar space station into orbit around the Moon and landing another two astronauts on the Moon’s surface.
Artemis V	Artemis V provides for adding another module to Gateway and a third crewed lunar landing to undertake further surface science.