April 11: The crew of Artemis II landed off the coast of San Diego at 20:07 (8:07 pm) EDT on April 10 / 00:07 UTC on April 11. In total, the 10-day mission covered around 1.12 million kilometers (695,000 miles).
April 6: Astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Jeremy Hansen are heading back toward Earth. They are expected to splash down in the Pacific Ocean at around 20:07 (8:07 pm) EDT on April 10 / 00:07 UTC on April 11.
April 4: The Artemis II crew are preparing for their flyby around the Moon. At 20:35 (8:35 pm) EDT on April 6 / 00:35 UTC on April 7, the crew will experience a 57-minute solar eclipse as the Sun disappears behind the Moon from their perspective.
April 2: An engine burn beginning at 19:49 (7:49 pm) EDT / 23:49 UTC sent the crew of Artemis II on a path toward the Moon. It is the first time since 1972 that humans have left Earth orbit.
April 1: Congratulations to our friends at NASA on the successful launch of Artemis II. The rocket left the launch pad at the Kennedy Space Center, Florida, at 18:35 (6:35 pm) EDT / 22:35 UTC.
Humans Return to the Moon
We’re wishing good luck to astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Jeremy Hansen as they prepare to blast off on a roughly 10-day “flyby” mission around the Moon.
The launch of the Artemis II rocket could happen as early as Wednesday, April 1. During the mission, the crew will swing around the far side of the Moon, about 8000 km (5000 miles) above the lunar surface.
It will be another big moment in the story of human spaceflight—and the astronauts will be taking with them mementos and artefacts from other key dates in the history of exploration.
Artemis II official flight kitA Piece of the Original Wright Flyer
On December 17, 1903, Orville and Wilbur Wright achieved the first flight of a powered heavier-than-air aircraft. The Artemis II mission will carry a small swatch of fabric from the Wright Brothers’ flyer.
On this day: December 17Did you know? Neil Armstrong took small pieces of the Wright Flyer with him when he landed on the surface of the Moon in 1969.
A Flag from the First Shuttle Mission
The first Space Shuttle mission, STS-1, was launched on April 12, 1981. An American flag that was on board that flight will be carried into space again by Artemis II.
On this day: April 12Did you know? The same flag also flew on the final Shuttle mission, STS-135, in 2011.
A Flag Intended for Apollo 18
The last crewed mission to the Moon was Apollo 17, which returned to Earth on December 19, 1972. Artemis II will carry a flag that was set to fly on Apollo 18, a mission that was cancelled in 1970.
On this day: December 19Did you know? The rocket built for the Apollo 18 mission was instead used for the launch of Skylab, America’s first space station, in 1973.
The Moon Gets a New Feature
In other Moon news, an announcement from last month’s Lunar and Planetary Science Conference in Texas: a big new crater has been found on the Moon.
The crater, which measures 225 meters (246 yards) from one side to the other, is the result of an impact that happened in 2024. It was spotted during routine analysis of images from NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO), a robotic spacecraft that has been orbiting the Moon since 2009.
It is estimated that a crater of this size forms once every 139 years or so. Previously, the largest new crater discovered by LRO was 70 meters (77 yards) across.
A Chance to See a Comet?
C/2026 A1 (MAPS) is a comet that will reach perihelion—its closest point to the Sun—on April 4. If the comet survives its close encounter with the Sun, there is a chance the Artemis II astronauts may see the comet as they pass around the far side of the Moon.
MAPS was discovered in January by a group of amateur astronomers. It is a Kreutz sungrazer, which means it will pass extremely close to the Sun. In fact, sungrazers pass so close to the Sun they are often destroyed at perihelion.
Show the position of C/2026 A1 (MAPS) on our Night Sky Map