NASA Sets Date for Historic Crewed Moon Mission with Artemis II
NASA’s Artemis II mission, scheduled for early 2026, will send astronauts to orbit the Moon, marking the first crewed lunar flight in over 50 years.
Kokcha News Agency: NASA has announced that the Artemis II mission, which will send astronauts to orbit the Moon, is set for launch no later than April 2026, with a potential launch as early as February 2026. This mission will be the first crewed flight around the Moon since the Apollo 17 mission in 1972.
The four-person crew includes three American astronauts and one Canadian:
- Christina Hammock Koch (NASA)
- Reid Wiseman (NASA, mission commander)
- Victor Glover (NASA)
- Jeremy Hansen (Canadian Space Agency)
The crew will orbit the Moon but will not land on its surface. A lunar landing is planned for the subsequent Artemis III mission.
The Artemis program aims to accelerate the U.S. return to the Moon, with NASA and the Trump administration setting long-term goals to establish permanent lunar bases and use the Moon as a stepping stone for future Mars missions. Lakiesha Hawkins, a senior NASA official, emphasized, “There’s a desire to return to the Moon, but NASA’s priority is to do so safely.”
Meanwhile, China is planning its first crewed lunar mission by 2030, leading to what the U.S. government has termed the “second space race.”
If Artemis II is successful, it will mark humanity’s return to lunar orbit after more than five decades, paving the way for future exploration and potential lunar colonization.
