NASA Artemis II: Four Astronauts on the Moon with New Findings and Exploration

Liputan6.com, Jakarta - NASA Artemis II mission has successfully launched, carrying four astronauts on a historic journey around the Moon.

This launch marks the first crewed flight beyond low Earth orbit since the Apollo 17 mission in December 1972, more than five decades ago.

On April 1, 2026, the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and the Orion spacecraft carrying the astronauts blasted off from Kennedy Space Center, Florida.

This approximately 10-day mission will take humans farther from Earth than ever before, with the primary goal of verifying the capabilities of a crewed Orion spacecraft in a realistic deep space environment.

As of April 6, 2026, the Orion spacecraft has passed the midpoint between Earth and the Moon, with mission control and the crew completing trajectory correction maneuvers.

The astronauts also conducted a manual piloting demonstration and prepared for a lunar flyby that would break the record for the farthest distance from Earth, held by Apollo 13.

POV: You're flying by the Moon. This visualization is designed to show you what exactly the Artemis II astronauts will see outside their window during their lunar flyby. Here, the seven-hour visualization is compressed into 28 seconds. ⬇ (1/4) pic.twitter.com/2OMAy37oht

— NASA Solar System (@NASASolarSystem) April 5, 2026

The NASA Artemis II mission successfully launched on April 1, 2026, at 6:35 PM EDT (22:35 UTC) from Launch Complex 39B at Kennedy Space Center, Florida.

This launch marked the first crewed flight to the Moon since the Apollo program 53 years earlier.

On April 6, 2026, the Orion spacecraft passed the midpoint between Earth and the Moon.

The mission control team in Houston and the NASA Artemis II crew completed an exit correction burn to fine-tune the Orion spacecraft's trajectory toward the Moon.

The crew completed a manual piloting demonstration, with astronauts Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen alternating at the controls of the spacecraft to test its performance in deep space.

They are preparing for a lunar flyby on Monday, April 6, where they will surpass the record for the furthest distance from Earth previously held by Apollo 13.

The NASA Artemis II mission can be tracked online and through the Artemis Real-time Orbit Website (AROW) app.

Nasa Artemis II is NASA's first crewed test flight of the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion spacecraft around the Moon.

This is the second flight of the SLS and the first crewed mission beyond low Earth orbit since Apollo 17 in December 1972.

The mission is designed to prepare for the establishment of a sustained presence on the Moon, which is an integral part of NASA's larger Artemis program.

By verifying the capabilities of the Orion spacecraft with crew in a realistic deep space environment, NASA Artemis II is a crucial step toward future lunar landing missions.

The four astronauts selected for the NASA Artemis II mission are Commander Reid Wiseman, Pilot Victor Glover, and Mission Specialist Christina Koch from NASA, as well as Mission Specialist Jeremy Hansen from the Canadian Space Agency (CSA).

Glover will be the first Black person to fly around the Moon, while Koch will be the first woman to travel to the Moon.

This crew brings a wealth of experience, including space station veterans, and Jeremy Hansen will be the first non-American to travel around the Moon.

Koch and Hansen, as mission specialists, will conduct various critical tests and observations during the flight.