After the Apollo program concluded in 1972, humanity has not since reached the moon. However, that has now changed. NASA launched the Artemis program in 2017 with the goal of returning to the moon. Now, with the Artemis II mission, four astronauts, Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Jeremy Hansen, will fly by our moon. This is the first step to human missions to deeper space and colonizing the moon.

The Artemis II mission launched on April 1, 2026, with 18 million viewers in the U.S tuning to lift-off. The mission’s trajectory involves orbiting Earth and then reaching the moon’s atmosphere on the sixth day of the mission. The crew captured photographs of the moon’s surface for research.

Additionally, the mission went as far as humans have ever traveled in history, at 252,756 miles.
The mission coincided with the Christian celebration of Easter in which the crew celebrated while on deck. “I think these observances are important, and as we are so far from Earth and looking back at the beauty of creation, I think for me, one of the really important personal perspectives that I have up here is I can really see Earth as one thing,” Glover noted.

Artemis II splashes down on April 10 off the coast of San Diego, California around 7:08 Central time. The mission was one small step for humans to go back to the moon, but a huge leap for human venture to deep space.