Artemis II has been a long time in the making. It was first planned following preliminary reviews in 2011, which initially targeted a launch date between 2019 and 2021. The mission faced multiple delays, shifting from original plans of a 2023 launch to November 2024 and subsequently September 2025, before the crewed mission ultimately launched in April 2026.
On April 1, 2026, at 6:35 p.m. ET, Artemis II launched from Launch Complex 39B at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The crew on board were Reid Wiseman (Commander), Victor Glover (Pilot), Christina Koch (Mission Specialist) and Jeremy Hansen (Mission Specialist). This crew was the first crew to travel around the moon in over 50 years. They spent 10 days in space, then the crew returned safely to Earth with a splashdown in the Pacific Ocean on April 10, 2026.
Artemis II primary goal was to test the Orion spacecraft’s life support systems and SLS rocket with astronauts aboard, validating systems for future lunar landings. Some interesting things they do in space because of micro gravity are how they sleep. Since they can’t just lay down because they’ll float around, they sleep in a sleeping bag that is attached to the wall. They also have little space bedrooms where they can sleep. One story that Koch shared was the first few days she was back on earth she woke up and thought she was floating. She had to convince herself that she wasn’t floating and actually Koch spent 328 days in space on her previous mission and even after that mission she never did the thing where you think something will float in front of you but after this mission, she’s done that. She said she put a shirt in the air and it just fell. It actually takes about a few days to several weeks to readapt to Earth’s gravity, with full physiological recovery often taking up to a month or more and that is just one interesting thing. They all have talked about their experiences which I encourage you to go listen to!
