Nasa Artemis II astronauts to fly by moon’s far side
Four astronauts will pass the moon's far side and become the farthest-traveling humans in history.
NASA's Artemis II mission is set to achieve two major historic milestones on Monday, April 6, 2026. The four-person crew—NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen—will perform a close flyby of the moon, coming closer to the lunar surface than any human has in over five decades. During this several-hour maneuver, they will capture unprecedented images of the moon's far side, a perspective permanently hidden from Earth. This event represents the pinnacle of their 10-day mission, which launched on April 1.
Earlier in the day, the crew is scheduled to break a 56-year-old spaceflight record. Around 2 p.m. New York time, they will surpass the distance from Earth achieved by the Apollo 13 crew in 1970, officially becoming the farthest-traveling humans in history. The lunar flyby itself is planned for just after 7 p.m. New York time. Artemis II is not a landing mission but a crucial dress rehearsal, testing the Orion spacecraft and its systems in deep space to pave the way for Artemis III, which aims to return humans to the lunar surface within the next two years.
- The Artemis II crew will fly by the moon's far side on Monday, April 6, getting closer than any human since the Apollo era.
- The mission will break the Apollo 13 record, making the four astronauts the farthest-traveling humans in history.
- This is a critical uncrewed systems test for NASA's Orion spacecraft, directly supporting plans for a crewed lunar landing by Artemis III in ~2028.
Why It Matters
This mission validates the spacecraft and operations needed to return humans to the moon and eventually send astronauts to Mars.