NASA’s Artemis II mission spans 10 days and 8 key moments, from launch to lunar flyby and splashdown, marking humanity’s return to deep space exploration.

NASA’s high-tech Artemis II had a smooth launch from Florida on Wednesday—but things did not totally go to plan once in space. After rocketing four astronauts on a mission that is set to see them slingshot around the moon and back to Earth in 10 days,

NASA's Artemis 2 has launched on a history-making journey around the moon and back, and the moment was captured from space.

NASA's Artemis II mission is set to launch from Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Wednesday evening, with a two-hour launch window beginning at 6:24pm EDT. The planned lunar fly-around by four astronauts would be the first moon trip in 53 years.

NASA's Artemis II two-hour launch window opens at 6:24 pm ET Wednesday, April 1, 2026. See best places on Florida's Treasure Coast to watch liftoff.

April 1 (Reuters) - NASA's Artemis program is the U.S. effort to return astronauts to the moon for the first time since the Apollo era and eventually establish a sustained human presence there, a goal Washington has framed as central to maintaining space leadership amid growing competition from China.

NASA's Artemis II mission completes a critical engine burn, propelling the Orion spacecraft and its four-person crew out of Earth orbit toward the moon.

Wembanyama has shown interest in aeronautical science and cosmology, visiting NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston last offseason.