NASA's Curious Universe

Liftoff! NASA’s Artemis II mission launched on April 1, 2026, carrying four Moonbound astronauts. After an approximately 10-day mission, Artemis II ends with a splash. Lili Villarreal, the recovery and landing director for Artemis II, leads the team that will bring home the astronauts and their spacecraft. She describes the recovery playbook, which includes many contingency plans, and the rehearsals that have prepared her team for the mission.  

For Artemis II news and the latest launch information, visit nasa.gov/artemis-ii

Behind NASA’s Artemis II mission and the astronauts who will fly around the Moon, teams on the ground are essential. Explore some of the epic equipment that makes Artemis II possible—the mobile launcher, crawler-transporter, and NASA’s barge Pegasus—and meet a few of the many specialists who act as the shoulders lifting astronauts into space.      

For Artemis II news and the latest launch information, visit nasa.gov/artemis-ii

During Artemis II, four astronauts will see the lunar surface as few humans have—and possibly, parts of the Moon’s far side that no one has seen before. Learn what lunar science questions NASA hopes to answer through the astronauts' eyes with lunar geologist Kelsey Young. And those astronauts will also be subjects of science. Jancy McPhee, associate chief scientist of NASA’s Human Research Program, explains how studying human health on Artemis II will prepare us for exploration deeper into space than ever before.

For Artemis II news and the latest launch information, visit nasa.gov/artemis-ii

During Artemis II, humans will fly Orion—NASA’s next-generation spaceship designed to take us to the Moon and beyond—for the first time. Tour Orion with Branelle Rodriguez, the vehicle manager for Artemis II, to hear about the support systems that keep astronauts alive and how exactly you use the bathroom en route to the Moon. Then, pop the hood of NASA’s most powerful rocket, the Space Launch System, with David Beaman, one of its key architects.  

For Artemis II news and the latest launch information, visit nasa.gov/artemis-ii

In 2022, NASA launched Artemis I, an uncrewed test flight of the rocket and spacecraft that will send humans to the Moon. Go inside Firing Room 1—the nerve center for Artemis launches—and hear from the engineers who launched Artemis I, including the intricate procedures they developed just to fuel the rocket correctly. Now NASA is preparing to launch Artemis II—and to send humans around the Moon.  

For Artemis II news and the latest launch information, visit nasa.gov/artemis-ii