NASA Artemis II Crewed Lunar Mission Launches — Humanity's First Crewed Deep Space Flight in 52 Years

On April 1, 2026, at 6:35 p.m. EDT, NASA's Artemis II mission lifted off from Launch Complex 39B at Kennedy Space Center, Florida, aboard the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket carrying the Orion spacecraft. The four-person crew — Commander Reid Wiseman, Pilot Victor Glover, Mission Specialists Christina Koch (the first woman to travel to lunar distance) and Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen (the first non-American to fly on a deep space mission) — successfully performed a crewed lunar flyby. The mission marked humanity's first crewed deep space flight since Apollo 17 in 1972. Serving as a critical validation test for the future Artemis III crewed lunar landing mission, it tested life support systems, navigation, communications, and emergency abort procedures. After approximately 10 days in space, the Orion capsule successfully splashed down in the Pacific Ocean on April 11, 2026, where it was recovered by U.S. Navy personnel. All four crew members were safely returned to Earth. The mission was watched live by over 100 million viewers worldwide and represents a historic revival of human deep space exploration.