Stark dramatic portrait of the SLS rocket on the launchpad at night, illuminated by brilliant white spotlights against a pitch-black sky, high-contrast aerospace photography
Stark dramatic portrait of the SLS rocket on the launchpad at night, illuminated by brilliant white spotlights against a pitch-black sky, high-contrast aerospace photography
Explore Flight Path
Meet the Crew
/ Artemis II Mission

Humanity's return to deep space

Four astronauts will sit atop 8.8 million pounds of thrust, bound for the Moon. Follow the historic ten-day flight proving Orion's life-support systems for sustainable deep-space exploration.

Close-up of the Orion spacecraft in deep space, sunlight glinting off its metallic solar arrays, the curved blue horizon of Earth visible in the distant background, high-contrast crisp aerospace photography
Close-up of the Orion spacecraft in deep space, sunlight glinting off its metallic solar arrays, the curved blue horizon of Earth visible in the distant background, high-contrast crisp aerospace photography
Technical Specifications
The Flight Profile

Proving systems for lunar landing

Artemis II is the critical bridge to sustainable lunar exploration. Over a ten-day trajectory, the crew will push Orion's life-support, navigation, and communication systems to their absolute limits in the harsh radiation environment of deep space.

By executing a precise free-return trajectory around the far side of the Moon, this mission validates the hardware, software, and human operations required to land the next generation of explorers on the lunar surface.

By the Numbers

The scale of human exploration

8.8M

Pounds of launch thrust

10 Days

Deep space flight duration

4,600 mi

Beyond the Moon's far side

24,800 mph

Re-entry velocity

Mission Briefing

Join the crewed journey

Receive official telemetry updates, crew logs, and technical briefings directly from NASA's media operations as we prepare for launch.