When NASA astronaut Reid Wiseman pointed his camera back at Earth — just as the Artemis II crew's Orion spacecraft departed for the moon on April 2 — he captured what looks, to the untrained eye, like a regular “Blue Marble” image. But look closer, and you will see a series of hidden details that make this one of the mission's most unique and poignant images.

When Wiseman took this photograph (with a Nikon D5 camera), he and his record-breaking crew were on the night side of Earth. Yet it looks very much like daytime, because the globe was lit by bright light from the Pink Moon, which had turned full on April 1 — the day before Artemis II launched from Florida's Kennedy Space Center.

What Wiseman's camera captured was sunlight reflected by the moon onto Earth, a subtle light he could only capture by maximizing his camera's sensitivity. Look at the originals, archived on the Gateway to Astronaut Photography of Earth, and you can see what this view looked like to the naked eye.

Being illuminated largely by moonlight allowed nighttime features to stand out in unusual detail. Look carefully, and you’ll see city lights. From the astronauts' position above the mid-Atlantic, urban lights can be seen in parts of Spain, Portugal, northern Africa, sub-Saharan Africa and Brazil.

But it’s not just the cities that are aglow. Because this global image includes both the North and South Poles, Wiseman managed to capture an extremely rare display of simultaneous auroras on opposite sides of the Earth. Look at the top left and bottom right segments of the planet, and you’ll spot rival bands of green — the northern and southern lights, generated as charged particles of solar wind race along magnetic field lines and collide with molecules in Earth’s atmosphere.

You can also see a sliver of sunlight shining through Earth's atmosphere on the bottom-right limb of our planet; evidence that it’s one day past full moon. In another, otherwise identical image taken with a faster shutter speed, the illuminated atmosphere appears only as a slim blue crescent.

Beyond that crescent is a bright fuzzy patch of zodiacal light, a faint glow caused by sunlight scattering off interplanetary dust. It’s sometimes called “false dawn” and “false dusk” when it’s seen near the horizon in very dark locations on Earth (typically during twilight close to the equinoxes). Beyond that bright patch, in the bottom-right corner, shines the planet Venus.

The image of Earth in the foreground, auroras at the poles, sunlight bending through the atmosphere, glowing cosmic dust and Venus make this shot feel like a family portrait of the inner solar system.

In a single frame, Wiseman turns Earth from a familiar “Blue Marble” into something rarer: a moonlit, solar-charged, living planet seen in its true cosmic setting.

See more Space Photos of the Week

For 10 days in April, NASA's Artemis II crew took a record-breaking trip around the far side of the moon and back. And like any group of friends on an epic spring break odyssey, the astronauts took way too many photos — more than 12,000, to be exact.

We've seen some of these photos already, from a rare view of the moon's far side during a solar eclipse to evocative shots of our planet disappearing behind the lunar horizon. But this weekend, NASA quietly uploaded thousands more to its public archive of astronaut photography. You can view the entire Artemis II gallery here.

Snapped from inside the Orion crew capsule by NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Christina Koch and Victor Glover and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen, the photos capture the crew's view of the mission from their first day in Earth orbit to their lunar flyby and back. If you don't have time to scour all 12,000 thumbnails, here are some of our favorites from the vast new collection.

Knock, knock

Who's that looking in through the Orion capsule window? Oh, just every human being in existence (well … minus the few on the International Space Station at the time). These images showing the spacecraft's interior and windows have become some of the most popular online, underscoring that four intrepid humans put themselves in extraordinary circumstances to bring us these rare views.

Sun-kissed moon

Sun rays rain down on the moon and glint off the Orion capsule's window as the crew snaps a furious salvo of photos during their lunar flyby on April 6. At their closest, the crew flew within 4,067 miles (6,545 kilometers) of the lunar surface, giving them a rare view of the entire moon from the front, side and back.

Crater close-up

Large, overlapping impact craters appear in remarkable detail as the team approaches the moon's terminator — the moving boundary that separates the sunlit side of the moon from the dark side. In this ultra-high-contrast region, the team spotted several impact flashes from renegade space rocks.

Farewell, Earth

While orbiting around the far side of the moon, the Artemis II crew snapped some instantly iconic photos of Earth setting behind the moon. This alternate view shows one of the last moments before the pale blue dot disappeared from view, barely peeking out over the lunar horizon.

Earthset through the glass

Here's the same view of the final moments of Earthset — this time, with the edge of the Orion spacecraft's window in view, complete with glare and reflections on the glass. It's just another reminder that, behind these incredible photos were four friends floating in a capsule the size of a camper van.

Mountains of the moon

As the crew flew around the far side of the moon, they witnessed a rare total solar eclipse from space. Just before the final rays of the sun gave way to utter darkness, white light from the solar corona (outer atmosphere) stabbed past the horizon, highlighting bumpy mountains on the moon's edge.

End of the eclipse

After 40 minutes in silence and darkness, the crew reemerged from the far side of the moon. The moon's sunlit side came into view again, while zodiacal dust — clouds of tiny, interplanetary dust particles — reflected the sun's light in the distance.

Parts unknown

On their way to and from the moon, the Artemis II crewmembers also had the chance to snap photos of the Milky Way without the obstructing lights of Earth in the way. The densest, most star-filled part of our galaxy glows in a scene similar to the view space telescopes like Hubble get all the time

Say, "the moon is made of cheese"

Koch smiles for a portrait with Earth, which is barely visible as a slim crescent outside the Orion capsule window.

Cheshire Earth

The sunlit side of Earth hangs like a smile on an invisible face as the astronauts leave the moon behind and head back toward their final destination in the Pacific Ocean.

Earth, the moon and the astronaut

In another through-the-window shot, interplanetary dust clings to Orion's glass as one of the astronaut's reflections creeps into the frame alongside the moon and a crescent Earth.

Come round again sometime

The moon fits perfectly in a round porthole on the Orion capsule as the crew makes their approach.

Artemis II is done, but these images will keep scientists busy for years to come as NASA prepares to return humans to the moon — this time, to land on the surface — as soon as 2028.

Are you a NASA nerd? See how well you score on our Artemis quiz to find out!

Artemis II aced its trial-by-fire reentry, despite some concerns that the Orion spacecraft's heat shield would not hold up, a ghostly photo of the spacecraft's underside taken soon after splashdown reveals.

NASA's preliminary post-splashdown investigation indicates that Orion's heat shield suffered minimal char loss, its ceramic tiles were uncracked, and the reflective thermal tape was still present in numerous places — ensuring that the capsule’s four-person crew was safe during their fiery plunge through Earth’s atmosphere.

"Initial inspections of the system found it performed as expected, with no unusual conditions identified," NASA officials wrote in a statement released Monday (April 20). "Diver imagery of the spacecraft’s heat shield initially taken after splashdown and further inspections on the recovery ship found the char loss behavior observed on Artemis I was significantly reduced, both in terms of quantity and size."

The Artemis II heat shield, an ablative coating of silica fibers inside a polymer resin, was designed to protect the mission's crew from the 24,664 mph (39,693 km/h) reentry — a blistering speed that transformed the surrounding air into a plasma inferno half as hot as the sun's surface.

But the shield's doubtful suitability for this final leg of the journey left experts concerned. Notably, Charles Camarda, a former NASA astronaut and heat-shield research engineer who flew on the first space shuttle following the Columbia disaster, lambasted the decision as "playing Russian roulette" with the crew's lives.

That's because the Artemis II mission's heat shield was the same as the one used for Artemis I, and that shield cracked and charred upon reentry.

For the uncrewed Artemis I mission, NASA performed a "skip" reentry, in which Orion bounced off Earth's upper atmosphere, like a stone on a lake, before reentering. According to NASA, this maneuver would extend the range that Orion flew between reentering the atmosphere and splashing down in the Pacific Ocean, thereby improving landing accuracy and making the ride smoother for astronauts.

But a later inspection of the heat shield alarmed NASA engineers, revealing that the shield's Avcoat material had charred and cracked, and was missing several bolts. Ground testing at NASA's arc jet facility replicated the conditions of reentry, finding that the skip return had enabled pockets of gas to build up inside and fracture the shield.

This led NASA to opt for a lofted entry profile for Artemis II (the same type of reentry used in the Apollo missions), sacrificing accuracy and astronaut comfort to send the mission's "Integrity" spacecraft on a more direct path through the atmosphere. The early analysis appears to show the agency's bet paid off.

Meanwhile, the mission's Space Launch System rocket, once notorious for its numerous leaks and launch scrubs, also performed well, according to NASA. The agency got its numbers right too, achieving a landing with pinpoint precision similar to those of the Apollo missions.

"Orion splashed down with precision, just 2.9 miles [4.7 kilometers] from the targeted landing site," NASA representatives wrote in the statement. "Initial assessments showed entry interface velocity was within one mile-per-hour [1.6 km/h] of predictions."

While NASA is using its initial assessments to herald future missions in the Artemis program as being "on track," doubts persist. Artemis III is slated to launch for an Earth-orbit docking test with its lunar lander module in 2027 before Artemis IV and V target successive moon landings in 2028. Whether those landers ‪—‬ alongside other mission-critical hardware, such as lunar spacesuits ‪—‬ arrive in time or delay the program further remains to be seen.

Are you a NASA nerd? See how well you score on our Artemis quiz to find out!

The successful Artemis II trip around the Moon was a historic achievement — the first crewed lunar fly-by in more than 50 years, and the greatest distance yet travelled by humans from our "pale blue dot".

The mission was marked by engineering, scientific and technical feats, by the astronauts and team at NASA and beyond, who got the crew there and back safely.

With the technical achievement came symbolic firsts, too. The first woman and the first person of color to orbit the moon. As astronaut Victor Glover put it, "people need to be able to see themselves in the things that they dream about".

Artemis II deserves celebration. But the celebration should not crowd out political scrutiny.

Power and resources on the moon

Artemis II is one mission in a broader US program to start establishing a permanent moon base by 2030.

This is about more than exploration. As US President Donald Trump has said, it is about asserting "American space superiority", establishing a "sustained American presence" and developing a lunar economy. The US colonial thinking of a "manifest destiny to the stars" returns.

The bigger picture is that the US sees itself in a "space race" with what NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman has called its "geopolitical adversary", China.

One point of conflict is access to finite, valuable resources at the lunar south pole, where water ice could sustain life and provide rocket fuel for missions to Mars. More speculative, profit-driven visions also play a part, from mining helium-3 to extracting resources from asteroids and bringing them to Earth.

Global rules — beyond the globe

International space treaties, largely forged during the 20th century Cold War, have little to say about appropriating resources off-Earth.

The US wants to shape the rules, and the US-led Artemis Accords are part of that effort. They are non-binding principles, but consequential.

Grounded in the Outer Space Treaty of 1967, they offer a "blueprint" for how resource activities, and other unsettled topics, may be governed.

Many observers see the Artemis Accords as more transparent and open than China's counterpart, the International Lunar Research Station. However, critics argue the Artemis Accords undermine multilateral, consensus-based processes.

Sixty-one countries have signed the Artemis Accords. Only nine new signatories have joined since Trump's return as US president, versus 19 in the year prior. It remains to be seen if the trend continues.

Why US leadership in space demands scrutiny

US leadership in space is often discussed only in contrast to China. This binary view can help the US escape scrutiny, especially in allied nations.

Consider America's recent actions here on Earth. As Artemis II drew our gaze skyward, the US–Israel war on Iran was intensifying.

In an expletive-filled post on Truth Social, Trump hinted at a nuclear attack with a threat that "a whole civilization will die tonight" unless Tehran reopened the Strait of Hormuz.

The US also threatened to target civilian infrastructure, after one strike hit a school, reportedly killing more than 150 people.

All of this occurred amid the ongoing crisis and civilian casualties in Gaza, where Trump's "Board of Peace" has faced criticism for seeking to function as an "alternative UN".

Trump has also revived territorial ambitions toward Greenland, saying: "We need it". He floated annexing Canada as the fifty-first US state. He spoke of the "honor of taking Cuba". He declared he would "run" Venezuela.

All of these places have natural resources that would give the US strategic advantages, including in critical minerals and oil.

This conduct has raised concerns from international lawyers and international organizations. Even US allies have spoken up, whom Trump criticized for not joining the Iran war.

Hard questions about a US-led future in space

A disregard for international law on Earth leads us to question how the US will ultimately act in space.

Scholars from the Global South, notably law professor Antony Anghie, have long argued that the US uses international law selectively and in line with its own interests. This is not new with Trump, even if the pattern has now become more visible and more intense. What may be changing is that more of the world is taking notice, including states that once benefited from that status quo.

At the World Economic Forum in Davos this year, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney described the "rules-based order" as "partially false", in which "international law applied with varying rigor depending on the identity of the accused or the victim". He was not speaking about space — but his point applies here too.

This puts question marks over US leadership in space — and whether it will abide by agreed rules when control over lunar resources is no longer just a hypothetical question. Even America's own Artemis Accords principles may prove optional if they stop being convenient to US interests.

That question is worth considering, given Trump has already justified withdrawing from many international instruments and organisations for this reason. Even NATO may be next.

No superpower should be immune from scrutiny — on Earth or beyond.

This edited article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

NASA's Artemis II mission, which shot humanity back to the moon for the first time in over 50 years, has captivated people around the world. As part of NASA's Artemis program, the 10-day flight tested key systems designed to return astronauts to the lunar surface, where NASA says it will establish a lunar base that will act as a staging post for future missions to Mars.

Data from the mission will be used to advance our understanding of human health in space, including the impacts on sleep and the effects of increased radiation and microgravity on health. The four Artemis II crewmembers were also trained in geology to make observations of the lunar surface, including identifying impact craters and ancient lava flows.

How much do you remember about humanity's greatest adventure in half a century? Remember to log in to put your name on the leaderboard; hints are available if you click the yellow button. Good luck!

More science quizzes

• Moon quiz: What do you know about our nearest celestial neighbor?
• Moon landing quiz: How quickly can you name all 12 Apollo astronauts that walked on the moon?
• Human spaceflight quiz: How well do you know our journey into space?

While flying just a few thousand miles above the moon on April 6, Artemis II astronauts reported seeing a handful of bright, fleeting flashes of light on the lunar surface, leaving mission scientists on Earth buzzing with excitement.

The excitement comes with good reason for scientists planning future lunar missions: These brief flashes, caused by tiny meteorites striking the moon, help researchers track when and where impacts occur. Such data can improve scientists' understanding of the risks these impacts pose to long-term infrastructure and a sustained human presence on the moon.

The moon's heavily cratered surface is no stranger to such impacts, and smaller ones occur almost daily with minimal risk to future lunar bases. But with space rocks slamming into the moon at tens of thousands of miles per hour — and no atmosphere to slow them — larger impacts remain a concern for scientists monitoring potential threats to critical infrastructure and crew safety.

"One has to plan for the less-frequent, more hazardous events," David Kring, a scientist at the Lunar and Planetary Institute in Houston, told Live Science. Back in 2016, Kring proposed the idea that future moon explorers should try to detect such impact flashes on the lunar far side. "The lunar flashes the Artemis II astronauts observed remind us to plan for that contingency," Kring said.

"Audible screams of delight"

The Artemis II crew spotted the flashes during their historic flyby around the lunar far side, when the moon briefly blocked the sun and created a total solar eclipse that lasted nearly an hour and left the far side in complete darkness. Against this stark backdrop, the crew observed at least four millisecond-long flashes on the lunar surface, and possibly as many as six, commander Reid Wiseman radioed to mission control in Houston.

"There was a little bit of giddiness," Wiseman said through the mission livestream, reporting a fresh flash spotted by crewmate Jeremy Hansen even as he relayed earlier observations. "It was definitely impact flashes on the moon."

"Incredible news, Reid," science officer Kelsey Young responded from mission control, raising her hand to her forehead in awe. There were "audible screams of delight" from scientists as the observations came in, Young told reporters at an April 7 news conference.

Scientists on Earth have already begun working to match the crew's observations with data from the moon-orbiting Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, with the goal of refining existing models of how frequently such impacts occur. To do so, researchers plan to combine astronaut reports with orbital data to extract key measurable details about the flashes, including their brightness, the meteorites' masses, and whether the events created fresh craters on the lunar surface.

Meteorites and moonquakes

A less-visible consequence of these impacts is the shock waves that ripple through the moon. Such "moonquakes," when recorded by seismometers, can reveal how energetic and potentially damaging each strike was.

Like the Artemis II crew, Apollo astronauts reported seeing a handful of impact flashes, but most occurred too far from the seismometers operating at the time to be detected, a recent analysis found. Even so, Apollo-era instruments recorded about 1,700 impact-related moonquakes. Some were powerful enough to "cause boulders to roll downslope," Kring said, while the largest could "cause crater and canyon walls to collapse," which would pose risks to future lunar habitats.

Currently, however, no active seismometers are operating on the moon to support the Artemis era.

"Hopefully the first landed Artemis mission will change that," Nick Schmerr, a geophysicist at the University of Maryland who co-authored the analysis cross-referencing Apollo-era flashes with moonquakes, told Live Science.

Seismometers are among the instruments NASA plans to deploy through a fleet of early robotic missions ahead of crewed landings planned for 2028 and beyond. By combining astronaut observations with data from seismometers, telescopes and orbiters, scientists could precisely locate impact events and track their effects.

"We'd certainly want to know about any nearby impacts for a moon base, especially if they hit near crucial infrastructure," said Schmerr, who is also the deputy principal investigator for a planned seismometer known as the Lunar Environmental Monitoring Station for Artemis (LEMS). "The more observations of a particular flash from different observers, the better."

Over time, such observations could help scientists refine estimates of how much asteroid and comet debris is striking the moon, Kring said. Larger impacts can excavate material from deep beneath the surface to reveal lunar geology that would be inaccessible otherwise. If such events occur near the polar regions, Kring added, they may even expose ice that NASA and other space agencies suspect is present and could someday be harnessed for life support and rocket fuel.

Looking further ahead, analyzing moon samples ferried to Earth from Artemis landing sites could allow researchers to identify the types of meteorites striking the moon and track how their composition has shifted over roughly 4 billion years of solar system history, Kring said. Ultimately, though, these impacts matter "because they produce and modify the lunar soil that future Artemis astronauts will walk on," he added.

How much do you know about the moon? Test your knowledge with our moon quiz!

The crew of NASA's Artemis II mission have made their first public comments following their record-breaking test mission to the far side of the moon and dramatic more than 24,000 mph (38,600 km/h) reentry.

The four-person crew ‪—‬ commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover and mission specialist Christina Koch of NASA and mission specialist Jeremy Hansen of the Canadian Space Agency ‪—‬ splashed down in the Pacific Ocean off San Diego at 8:07 p.m. EDT (12:07 a.m. GMT) on April 10.

"Victor, Christina and Jeremy, we are bonded forever, and no one down here is ever going to know what the four of us just went through," Wiseman said at a news conference held at Ellington Field Joint Reserve Base in Houston yesterday (April 12). "And it was the most special thing that will ever happen in my life."

"I have not processed what we just did"

The Artemis II mission sent humans farther from Earth than ever before, reaching 252,760 miles (406,777 kilometers) from our home planet ‪—‬ more than 4,100 miles (6,600 km) farther than the record set by Apollo 13 in 1970. The Orion spacecraft took just seven hours to swing around the far side of the moon on April 6, when the crew laid eyes upon never-before-seen regions of our lunar neighbor.

The mission clearly had a profound impact on the crew. Wiseman said he had "absolutely no idea what to say," while Glover added, "I have not processed what we just did, and I'm afraid to start even trying." The crewmates hugged multiple times throughout the conference, with Hansen even joking that "this is the furthest I've been away from Reid in a long time."

During his welcoming address, NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman noted the immense impact their mission has had on people here on Earth. "Thank you for showing us the moon again," he said. "Thank you for showing us planet Earth again."

Indeed, the Artemis II crew snapped many breathtaking images during their journey — the first trip to the moon since 1972. Among them is a photo of Earth framing the silhouette of Koch (the first woman to leave low Earth orbit and visit the moon) peering at Earth through one of the Orion spacecraft's main cabin windows. The photograph already has 2.1 million likes on Instagram, highlighting her profound impact on inspiring young women and girls in STEM.

But when looking back on the mission, Koch said she wasn't necessarily struck just by Earth.

"It was all the blackness around it," she said at the news conference. "Earth was just this lifeboat hanging undisturbingly in the universe."

"Can I get a hug?"

Koch recounted how her 10-day journey started and ended with simple human moments. "Ten days ago, this journey started with our mission manager, Sean Duval, knocking on my door in crew corridors and whispering, 'Christina, we're going for launch. Get up,' she recalled. "And it ended last night, when my nurse on the ship put me to bed and said, 'Ma'am, can I get a hug?'"

Hansen noted how, beyond all the scientific knowledge to be gained, the mission's biggest take-home message for the crew is a new perspective of our shared humanity and home planet.

Wisemen agreed, saying "it's a special thing to be a human, and it's a special thing to be on planet Earth."

Isaacman said NASA is already preparing Artemis III, which is expected to launch in 2027 and will test the Orion spacecraft's ability to work with several potential lunar landers in Earth orbit. Then, the Artemis IV and V missions will target two landings on the moon's surface in 2028.

"Artemis II was the opening act in America's return to the moon," Isaacman added. "As we stand here this evening, the mobile launcher is preparing to go back to the VAB [Vehicle Assembly Building], Artemis III will start being assembled, and the next crew will begin preparing to play their part as we return to the lunar surface, we build a base and we never give up the moon again."

This striking image shows a crescent Earth slipping behind the moon's rugged limb. This "Earthset" was witnessed by the crew of NASA's Artemis II mission and is arguably the highlight of the first mission around the moon since 1972. Moments after this image was taken, the Orion spacecraft passed behind the moon, beginning a 31-minute communications blackout with Mission Control in Houston, Texas.

In the foreground lies the sharply defined lunar surface, while beyond it, Earth hangs delicately in space, with Australia and Oceania in daylight while the rest fades into night. It's a view that left the crew emotional.

"I'm actually getting chills right now — just thinking about it, my palms are sweating," Commander Reid Wiseman said from the Orion capsule during a live news conference on Wednesday (April 8). "It is amazing to watch your home planet disappear behind the moon. You can see the atmosphere. You can see the terrain on the moon projected across the Earth … it was just an unbelievable sight … and then it was gone. It was out of sight."

The image inevitably invites comparison with the Earthrise captured during the Apollo 8 mission on Christmas Eve 1968 — the mission that took three humans around the moon for the first time. That photograph, taken by pilot Bill Anders, revealed Earth as a fragile, finite world suspended in darkness — a perspective widely credited with helping to spur the modern environmental movement.

The crew of Artemis II later took their own Earthrise image, but it was that initial Earthset — also taken a little farther out, in close up and in wide angle — that deeply affected Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, mission specialist Christina Koch and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen.

"The four of us took a moment," Wiseman said. "We shared maple cookies that Jeremy had brought. We took about three or four minutes as a crew to reflect on where we were — and then it was right back into the science."

"There's a lot that our brains have to process," Wiseman added. "Human minds shouldn't have to go through what these just went through, and it is a true gift."

The original Earthrise image announced humanity's arrival at the moon. It was unexpected and improvised. Earthset was intentional — and signals humanity's return to the moon after more than half a century.

Since its historic April 1 launch from Kennedy Space Center, NASA's Artemis II mission around the moon has delivered a stream of extraordinary moments, from Earth fading into the distance to a rare solar eclipse seen from deep space.

After the crew returned safely to Earth on Friday (April 10), we've collected the most remarkable images from humanity's first journey to the moon since 1972.

1. Artemis II launch

The April 1 launch from Kennedy Space Center's Launch Complex 39B signaled the beginning of humanity's first crewed lunar mission since Apollo 17. Powered by NASA's most powerful rocket, the Space Launch System, on only its second flight, Artemis II sent four astronauts on a 10-day, 695,000-mile (1.1 million kilometers) journey. The team's Orion crew capsule, nicknamed Integrity, sits at the top.

2. Spaceship Earth

In a mission of firsts, NASA astronaut Christina Koch became the first woman to leave Earth's orbit and travel around the moon. Here she is on April 2, peering out one of the Orion spacecraft's main cabin windows at the delicate blue sphere of Earth. As Artemis II traveled toward the moon, Earth's continents and clouds blurred into a single living world.

3. Earth's dark side

This image of Earth with the sun behind it was taken just after Orion's translunar injection burn on April 2, in which Orion sped out of Earth orbit and toward the moon. Earth became a glowing crescent suspended in darkness, with its night side sitting in shadow, almost entirely hidden from view.

4. Hello, world

Also captured just after Orion's boost toward the moon on April 2, this image contrasts sharply with later views. Here, a longer exposure reveals Earth's unlit side, but several other features make it unique. In addition to being the first image ever to feature auroras at both poles, it includes a crescent Earth, Venus (bottom right) and a smudge of zodiacal light (sunlight reflecting from dust in the solar system's asteroid belt).

5. The terminator

As Orion sped away from Earth on April 3, commander Reid Wiseman took this image of the terminator line, a sharp divide separating night from day on Earth — an everyday phenomenon transformed into a striking view from deep space.

6. A moment with the moon

Seen on April 6 just before lunar flyby observations began, a vast circular scar — the 600-mile-wide (1,000 km) Orientale basin — marks one of the moon's most dramatic impact features. This lava-filled relic of ancient volcanic activity was formed by a colossal impact billions of years ago.

7. Shadows at the edge of a lunar day

On April 6, the crew took this image of the terminator on the moon. It's where low sunlight skims the lunar surface, casting dramatic shadows that exaggerate craters, ridges and mountains — the perfect time to study the moon's rugged terrain. According to pilot Victor Glover, who monitored the terminator line through Orion's window, the craters in front of him were so dark, they looked like "you'd fall straight to the center of the moon if you stepped in some of those."

8. Total solar eclipse

Apollo astronauts saw total solar eclipses on their way to the moon, but the Artemis II crew was the first to witness one from the moon's far side. On April 6, totality lasted an extraordinary 54 minutes from Orion, during which the crew saw the sun's corona,stars and distant planets become visible nearby. It's a vantage point impossible on Earth.

9. Eclipse safety first

Even at the moon, safe solar viewing remains essential. Before and after totality, the four astronauts — Wiseman, Glover, Koch and mission specialist Jeremy Hansen — donned the same eclipse glasses distributed for the recent solar eclipses in North America.

10. Integrity comes home

At 8:07 p.m. EDT on Friday (Apr. 10), the Integrity capsule splashed safely into the Pacific Ocean after a nail-biting 13-minute descent through Earth's atmosphere. Soon after, a Navy recovery crew opened the capsule, welcoming its four record-setting passengers back to Earth after their historic mission to the moon.

The Artemis II mission ended in a dramatic fashion on April 10, 2026, when NASA's Orion spacecraft splashed down in the Pacific Ocean, just off the coast of San Diego, closing out humanity's first crewed journey to the moon in over 50 years.

The four-person crew — consisting of commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, and mission specialists Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen — returned to Earth after a 10-day mission that tested the systems NASA plans to use for future lunar expeditions. NASA said the splashdown occurred at 8:07 p.m. EDT or 5:07 PST, with recovery operations led by the US Navy's USS John P. Murtha.

"The vehicle is in excellent shape," said NASA's mission commentator, Rob Navias, during the April 10 livestream.

An extreme homecoming

Re-entry tends to be one of the more dramatic and dangerous parts of a mission, especially for Artemis II.

Unlike return missions from the International Space Station, which begin in low Earth orbit and thus don't need nearly as much speed to return to Earth, Artemis II flew back into Earth's atmosphere from the moon at near-record-breaking speeds. Orion came back at roughly 24,600 mph (39,600 kmh), around 24 times the speed of a bullet. That faster speed meant that the capsule's heat shield endured around twice the amount of heat as a spacecraft coming back from the ISS.

Unlike Artemis I, which launched in 2022, Artemis II's re-entry took a more direct path through the atmosphere due to concerns about the capsule's heat shield. In the end, the shield endured temperatures of up to around 5,000 degrees Fahrenheit — half the temperature of the sun — before Orion landed safely in the Pacific Ocean.

'Bullseye' landing ends historic mission

The re-entry could not have gone more smoothly, NASA said, as Orion and its systems did exactly what they were designed to do. After a nail-biting six minutes of radio blackout, during which a cloud of superheated plasma enveloped the capsule, Orion appeared safe and sound in a near-cloudless sky.

Then, at 22,000 feet the three main parachutes unfurled, helping to slow the crew module down to a gentler 20 miles per hour (32 kmh) before the capsule landed in the ocean. As the astronauts emerged onto the floating recovery raft accompanied by U.S. Navy recovery divers, mission control in Houston erupted into raucous cheers.

"I'm still at a loss for words," NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said in NASA's livestream. "Childhood Jared right now can't believe what I just saw. This is just the beginning, we are gonna get back into doing this with frequency, sending missions to the moon until we land on it in 2028 and start building our base"

The Artemis II crew have captivated millions around the world with their voyage, beaming back stunning images, scientific insights, laughter and some tears as they made history and laid the groundwork for humanity's return to the moon.

"I took a brief moment to say a short prayer of gratitude for being sent on this mission and trusted with bringing back scientifically relevant information," Glover said not long after the crew had reappeared from their flyby behind the moon on Monday (April 6). "And I also just felt like I was hoping that people looked up and were watching to see when we came back into communication, and that maybe there was a chance that folks would feel a sense of togetherness."

The Artemis II Orion spacecraft is expected to splash down later today (April 10) as the world waits to welcome back the mission's record-setting crew. So far, the Artemis II moon mission has been a tremendous success, but this final leg of the journey has some experts concerned.

There's an issue with the Artemis II heat shield, which is meant to protect the astronauts from the blistering heat of reentry. NASA is confident that a tweak to the reentry path is enough to mitigate the heat shield problems observed during the Artemis I test flight, and to keep the astronauts safe today.

Live Science spoke with Ed Macaulay, a lecturer in physics and data science at Queen Mary University of London who recently wrote about heat shield safety concerns in The Conversation, to discuss the heat shield and its impact on the Artemis II mission.

Patrick Pester: What is Orion's heat shield and why is it important?

Ed Macaulay: The heat shield is an absolutely essential part of the Orion spacecraft. When the Orion spacecraft comes back and reenters Earth, it's going to be travelling at a speed of about 25,000 mph (40,000 km/h) — it's just an unbelievably fast speed. For context, at that speed, it would cover the distance of the London Marathon [or the New York City Marathon] in about four seconds.

Because of that speed, the capsule is going to approach temperatures on reentry of about half that of the surface of the sun [5,000 degrees Fahrenheit or 2,800 degrees Celsius]. The heat shield is essential to protect the capsule from this scorching heat of reentry. Without it, the capsule would just completely melt and burn up.

PP: Can you explain why some experts are concerned about the heat shield?

EM: There have been some concerns raised about the heat shield because Artemis II is a crewed version of the uncrewed Artemis I mission that flew a few years ago. This was designed to be exactly the same mission profile, but without any humans on board. When the Artemis I capsule returned to Earth, it did make it safely through the atmosphere, but the damage and effects to the heat shield were more severe than had been anticipated from the modelling.

The heat shield is designed to burn away due to the heat; it's not designed to stay completely intact and completely pristine. You can almost think of it as a bit like the crumple zone of a car, but for heat. In a car, the crumple zone is designed to get compressed on impact so that the passengers are going to be safe. The heat shield is designed to burn away and fragment away, and carry away that heat.

What was surprising with the Artemis I heat shield is that parts of the heat shield had burnt away in large chunks. It wasn't ablating [gradually eroding] away evenly. This seems to be caused by hot gases that are trapped in the heat shield. As they heat up, they expand, they break away chunks of the heat shield and cause that damage.

For Artemis II, NASA has decided to keep the heat shield the same as with Artemis I. Instead, what they've decided to do is to change the reentry profile to put less stress on the heat shield. So, hopefully we're going to get even ablation through the heat shield and not have it burning away in these big chunks.

PP: Am I right in saying NASA is going to take a more direct approach rather than go for a skip reentry, which may have caused the problems the first time around?

EM: In a nutshell, that's exactly what they're doing. The skip reentry profile was designed in principle to make the reentry easier on the capsule and on the crew. Because you're coming into the atmosphere at 25,000 mph and in the space of a few minutes, all of that speed has to get cooked off, has to get turned into heat.

The idea with the skip reentry profile is that before going directly back into the atmosphere, the capsule just grazes off the surface of the atmosphere, burns off a bit of that speed, and then comes back out, and then later comes back in for the full reentry. In principle, that's going to put less stress on the capsule in terms of the temperature, in terms of g-loading [gravitational force].

What seems to happen in practice, though, is that because that whole process takes a longer amount of time, there's more time for these trapped gases in the heat shield to heat up and expand and cause damage. That's why, for Artemis II, the capsule is just going to go for a direct reentry profile; the same reentry profile used in the Apollo missions.

Hopefully, there's going to be less time for gases to cause damage. The other advantage with the direct reentry is that it's more straightforward to model. The team at NASA and all the related engineers have spent a huge amount of time doing computer simulations of these reentry profiles, trying to work out how much the heat shield is going to heat up, and what the damage is going to be.

With a skip reentry, the whole process is more complicated. You're trying to model how something's going to bounce and then come back in. With direct reentry, it's more straightforward. I almost think of it as a bit like, it's better the devil you know.

PP: So, maybe slightly more uncomfortable for the crew, but better for the heat shield?

EM: Yeah, I think that might be the trade-off. And the crew of Artemis II are all such complete pros when it comes to experiencing g-forces. So, if you're talking about g-forces of 4 Gs or something like that, they're not even going to bat an eyelid. They train for far higher g-loadings. Pulling a few Gs for a few minutes, that's not going to be any drama at all for the crew of Artemis II.

PP: Would you be comfortable betting your life on that heat shield?

EM: The short answer, if you're asking me, I wouldn't. I think there are reasons to be confident about it because even with the Artemis I heat shield burning off in big chunks, the crew still would have been safe had there been humans in there. I think what that shows is that there is an element of safety margin in this heat shield. Even if things are slightly, as they say at NASA, "off nominal" — not entirely normal — there's a kind of reasonable safety margin in what the heat shield is able to take. That's not quite the same as asking me personally, would I be next in line to go on Artemis II?

The crew of Artemis II are clearly a very extraordinary bunch of astronauts. They all clearly have the right stuff. And what they are doing on this mission is really extraordinary. They're going so much further than humanity has been in more than half a century.

I am sure that they will all have studied all of these details because nobody is more invested in this heat shield than they are. And I'm sure that they will all be confident in the work that all of the scientists and engineers involved with the heat shield have done.

With the Artemis II mission so far, it has been an extraordinary success from a technical point of view. I think that does give reasons to be confident about the reentry because it looks like there's every reason to expect that the trajectory is going to be absolutely nominal, absolutely what it is designed for. And hopefully, that's going to give them the best possible ride through reentry.

PP: But you wouldn't personally want to assume the risk, or you wouldn't want to be an astronaut in general?

EM: Personally, I'm a nervous flyer. And I think it's easy to forget just how much risk is involved with human spaceflight and how much greater the risk is than anything we would normally experience day-to-day. Only a few hundred people have ever gone into space. We haven't even had 1,000 people go into space. And, very sadly, even with just a few hundred human space missions, there have been some fatal missions.

PP: Is there anything else you'd like to add as we wrap up?

EM: My personal take is that this mission has just been an extraordinary success so far, for all kinds of reasons. From a technical point of view, the mission has been an incredible success; the Space Launch System [rocket], the boosters, going into that initial orbit, the translunar injection — the performance of the system has been incredible.

But more than that, these four astronauts have just been absolutely amazing. Not just performing their technical duties, but providing that human connection, that human perspective, and taking the rest of planet Earth along for the voyage.

Part of why I am so excited is that it's not like this is all going to end when Artemis II comes back for reentry. This is just the start of a whole new chapter: NASA's recently announced very ambitious plans for this continued human presence on the moon and exciting, concrete plans for the next Artemis missions. So, it really is just the start of a whole new chapter.

Editor's note: This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

The four Artemis II astronauts will return to Earth on Friday (April 10) — delivering not only themselves but also a precious trove of images from their lunar journey. And the geologists supporting the mission can hardly wait to dive in.

"The images are spectacular, absolutely," Gordon Osinski, a crater specialist and planetary geologist at Canada's Western University who has been deeply involved in the Artemis II crew’s geology training, told Live Science after seeing the first photos of the crew’s seven-hour lunar flyby.

Osinski said that the small batch of images transmitted to Earth so far hint at big discoveries about the moon's geology — and could help shape the hunt for lunar samples in NASA's upcoming crewed moon landings, starting with Artemis IV as soon as 2028.

A green, brown and flashy moon

Two geological findings stand out so far. One of these is impact flashes — brief but bright flashes of light from when space rocks slam into the moon, leaving craters behind.

Artemis II astronauts Reid Wiseman and Jeremy Hanson reported seeing at least five of these flashes during their lunar flyby. Geologists hope to review the crew's images, once they return to Earth, to potentially identify the craters associated with the impacts.

"The conditions that [the crew] had to view those was perfect," Osinski said, referring to the crew's passage over the lunar terminator — the stark dividing line between the moon's bright day-side and dark night-side, where contrast is heightened and flashes are easier to spot.

Secondly, mission scientists are eager to investigate the crew’s descriptions of lunar colors. Geologists have only heard a few quick impressions from the crew so far, mainly over voice communications open to the public. But the Artemis II crew was recording more lunar flyby observations by voice and in notes in an archive that will take weeks to review.

The astronauts reported some intriguing things, such as patches of green and brown on the lunar surface.

"We do know there is color on the lunar surface," Osinski said. The human eye, he added, is more sensitive to color than the cameras on board Artemis II, so "that's definitely going to be something interesting to follow up."

The human touch in space

For years, Osinski has been giving geologic training to Artemis II crew members. Hansen is a repeat contributor to Osinski's remote Canadian crater expeditions, often done alongside Indigenous groups. During Artemis II preparation, mission specialist Christina Koch and Canadian Space Agency backup astronaut Jenni Gibbons joined Hansen and Osinski on a 2023 expedition to a moon-like crater in northern Labrador, Canada.

Because the Artemis II astronauts could not sample the lunar surface directly, they were trained on how to make descriptions. They also used "situational awareness" for some situations, such as distinguishing between volcanic and impact processes, although the bulk of the interpretation will require months of work on Earth by geologists after the mission is complete.

But there is more that the Artemis II astronauts can provide. The astronauts form part of a group of less than 30 people who have seen the moon close up in-person, enabling them to bring human eyes and experiences to observations.

What's more, Artemis II is the first lunar astronaut mission in nearly two generations, enabling the astronauts (and their supporting scientists) to bring decades of insights into crater impacts, water ice and other features of the moon that Apollo officials did not have access to. The images Artemis II sent to Earth so far are just a subset of what's on board. Osinski said that in particular, he is interested in seeing the high-resolution 400-milimeter (16 inches) lens images by the crew to compare with images taken by NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter.

Bringing the moon back home

After Artemis II returns, Osinski and other geologists will take what was learned from the astronaut observations to work on future lunar surface missions. Planning has been ongoing for the surface work for two years, with the team now working on items such as narrowing down which sites might be useful to land at, and announcing which participating scientists will join.

Jacob Bleacher, NASA's chief exploration scientist, told Live Science the geology teams are working on landing products for the first astronauts on the surface, and are expecting to get more data from commercial landing missions supporting NASA. Firefly Aerospace's Blue Ghost mission was the first to make it there, achieving 60 days of operations in 2025. "We procured a good bit of data from them," Bleacher said, and the hope is that more companies will touch down before Artemis IV brings astronauts to the lunar surface in 2028.

For now, geologists are already hard at work making a plan for the moon-sample return.

Osinski is co-investigator of the geology team that will support the Artemis IV astronauts. Osinski said his team will likely be working with a lower-resolution live video feed that will enable, at least to an extent, the geologists on Earth to help the astronauts on site with observations.

That said, Artemis surface astronauts may also have to make quick decisions about sampling, which will be another training regime, Osinski said, requiring them to work independently.

"They might have to be making a split-second decision on the surface, if they're running out of time at a station: you know, 'Do I choose this one or this one?' And there might not be time for the back and forth with the science team on Mission Control," Osinski said.

Here's the latest on the final stage of the Artemis II mission:

• The Orion capsule Integrity has splashed down safely in the Pacific Ocean at 8:07 p.m. EDT.
• Artemis II mission commander Reid Wiseman has confirmed that all four astronuats are in good shape.
• The crew have been picked up by helicopter and are now onboard the USS John P. Murtha. 

What goes up

Good morning, science fans! We're back to cover the nail-biting final stage of the Artemis II mission, which has seen a four-astronaut crew embark on a 685,000-mile (1.1 million kilometers), 10-day journey around the moon and back.

The crew — consisting of commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, and mission specialists Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen — have captivated millions around the world with their voyage, beaming back stunning images, scientific insights, laughter and some tears as they made history and laid the groundwork for humanity's return to the moon.

Now all they have to do is return home safely.

With their reentry at record-breaking speeds through Earth's atmosphere just hours away, Live Science will be following every moment of this perilous finale to their journey, bringing you breaking updates and expert commentary. Let's see them home.

Feeling the heat

The speed at which the Artemis II crew will return to Earth is set to be record-breaking — hitting the top of the atmosphere at around 25,000 miles per hour (40,000 kilometers per hour).

To dissipate all that energy and arrive at a much more reasonable 20 mph (32 km/h) splashdown in the Pacific Ocean off San Diego, the Orion capsule will use two key pieces of technology: parachutes and a heat shield.

Artemis II's heat shield is designed to protect the crew and slow their capsule by heating up to temperatures of around 2,800 degrees Celsius (5,000 degrees Fahrenheit).

Yet it has a problem: It is almost exactly the same as Artemis I's heat shield, and that infamously cracked upon reentry.

That will make this coming stage of the mission among the most dangerous.

But while they have confessed to harboring "irrational" doubts, NASA officials have said they're not worried. Why? Check out Patrick's story here for the full answer.

So what about the parachutes?

The heat shield's durability is certainly the big question today, but what about those parachutes Ben just mentioned?

The Orion spacecraft is fitted with 11 total parachutes, all deployed in a very specific sequence to slow, stabilize and safely lower the capsule into the ocean. They includes three forward bay cover parachutes, two drogue parachutes, three pilot parachutes and three main parachutes.

The most iconic of these are the three main parachutes, which span 116 feet (35 meters) in diameter, weigh 300 pounds (136 kilograms) and consist of 10,000 square feet of fabric each.

Reentry will see the crew enter into a six-minute radio blackout caused by a buildup of superhot plasma surrounding the capsule. After this, NASA will first deploy the two drogue parachutes at an alitude of around 6.7 kilometers (22,000 feet). Then, at around 1.8 km (6,000 ft), the three main chutes will be released, slowing the Orion capsule to a leisurely 20 mph (32 km/h) descent to splashdown.

What time is splashdown?

NASA is expecting the Artemis II crew to splashdown in the Pacific Ocean just off San Diego at 8:07 p.m. EDT (12:07 a.m. GMT). The space agency and the U.S. Navy will be waiting for them with a recovery ship.

NASA's live coverage of the crew's return to Earth will begin at 6:30 p.m. EDT (10:30 p.m. GMT),

What are the Artemis II astronauts doing right now?

The Artemis II crew are currently taking some much needed sleep before a very busy day returning to Earth, and will be set to wake up in a couple of hours time.

Here's today's full schedule (in EDT) taken from NASA's website:

3:05 a.m.: Crew sleep begins

11:35 a.m.: Flight Day 10 crew wakeup

1:50 p.m.: Orion cabin configuration for re-entry begins

2:53 p.m.: Return trajectory correction burn

6:30 p.m.: NASA+ coverage begins

7:33 p.m.: Crew module and service module separation

7:37 p.m.: Crew module raise burn

7:53 p.m.: Entry interface

8:07 p.m.: Splashdown in the Pacific Ocean

10:30 p.m.: Post-splashdown news conference at NASA Johnson Space Center

The crew's final reflections on their mission

While we can't exactly give you the inside story on the contents of the crews' dreams right now, we can at least tell you some of their reflections upon their historic journey before they went to bed.

When asked what they would tell their younger selves about what they're doing right now, Christina Koch recalled a family vacation she took to Kennedy Space Centre at age 10.

"If I could have told that little girl who took home a picture of Earthrise, and hung it in her room, that she would eventually launch from that same place, to see that same view, I'm pretty sure she would not believe it," Koch said. "But even though I still can't believe it, and she certainly wouldn't believe it, she chased that dream, and it ended up happening."

"It's such an honour to hear that we've inspired, that's truly one of the top things we ever wanted to do," she concluded.

Artemis II — The Movie?

During the same in-flight news conference, the astronauts were also asked who they would want to play them in a movie.

"We've thought a little about the movie, and I think that's way out of our pay grade," Reid Wiseman said. "But one thing we do know for sure is that this guy [pointing at Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen] is gonna be played by Buzz Lightyear. 100%. No doubt."

I can see the likeness. But Wiseman knows Buzz Lightyear isn't a real guy, right? Or what are they hiding from us?

What does it feel like to disappear behind the moon?

The "overview effect," is a term invented by the science philosopher Frank White to describe the shift in perspective humans feel when they see Earth from space — especially how small and vulnerable our patch of cosmic oasis appears against the uninhabitable and vast backdrop that surrounds it.

When asked what it felt like to disappear behind the moon and lose radio contact with Earth, Artemis II pilot Victor Glover expressed a similar sentiment.

"I took a brief moment to say a short prayer of gratitude for being sent on this mission and trusted with bringing back scientifically relevant information," Glover said. "And I also just felt like I was hoping that people looked up and were watching to see when we came back into communication, and that maybe there was a chance that folks would feel a sense of togetherness."

"We have a moment of silence whenever something solemn [occurs] that requires reverence, or someone that we love has passed away, but maybe we could call it a moment of togetherness," he added. "And really was hoping that while we were waiting to get back in contact, that people could just feel that sense of togetherness, that we were all a crew on spaceship Earth."

NASA coverage begins

Rob Navias has appeared on NASA's livestream to kick off the agency's live coverage of the landing, and has also shared a handy visualization of where Orion is currently at.

"As you can see from this computer generated graphic based on real time telemetry, we are currently just 67,000 miles from the Earth," Navias said. "We passed the halfway mark last night between the Earth and the Moon, and are 186,000 miles from the moon as we close in on the planet Earth."

The view from Integrity

And here's the view from Integrity's solar array wing camera.

"The Earth will grow larger and larger in the field of view as we continue to move throughout the day," Navias said.

Yeah, we get that bit, Rob.

It's nearly wake-up time

Rob Navias is back on the NASA broadcast, this time to tell us that there are about 22 minutes left until the crew will get their wake-up call. Once awake, they "will begin at that point to review their morning messages and complete the configuration of the crew cabin for their high-speed entry back to Earth's atmosphere this evening."

What's next on the Artemis playlist?

Artemis II has been famous for it's iconic wake-up songs each morning. With the astronauts selecting each song. Eager listeners can also find the 10 songs on NASA Spotify playlist. But what will be the last? Well, we have only 15 minutes or so before we find out.

Rise and shine, Integrity

And there was the wake-up call, this time with a double bill of songs. First, the actual wake-up song from Live:

And then a bonus song from the Zac Brown Band:

With a special pre-recorded message from Zac from the Zac Brown Band: "Just want to say how proud of you we are. It takes courage and grit and freedom to chase the unknown. It's the purest kind of American spirit. Millions back home are looking up and feeling more inspired because of you. Keep flying strong. Keep flying safe. Can't wait to welcome you home."

"What a great way to start the day, Houston," said Artemis II commander Reid Wiseman. "Courage and grit. That'll stick with me and it should stick with all of you all day long."

"We got it loud and clear, Integrity," said mission control. "Can't wait to see you run to the water. See you soon. Good morning."

Where are the Artemis II crew landing?

If you live near San Diego, California, you could consider waving at Orion as it hurtles toward the Pacific Ocean at the crazy fast speed of 11 km/s (40,000 km/h) or 24,606 mph.

According to NASA, the splashdown is scheduled for 8:07 p.m. EDT (0007 GMT on April 11), with the capsule landing around 2,000 miles (3,200 kilometers) southwest of San Diego.

This is generally the same landing site as the 2022 Artemis I mission and a strategic choice for NASA, as the area hosts a naval base for the Pacific Fleet Surface Navy. And it will be a Navy ship (the USS John Murtha from Naval Base San Diego) which has the privilege of picking up the four astronauts after they land back on Earth.

"The stage is set"

Rob Navias back with an update from mission control.

The crew is "getting a bite to eat, completing the stowage of items in their crew cabin and everything is all set," he said. "The stage is set for their return to Earth this evening with a splashdown to the Pacific off the coast of San Diego, seven hours and 40 minutes from now."

Meanwhile, in the flight control room, a shift handover is taking place, with entry controllers led by flight director Rick Henfling stepping in.

"The vehicle is in great shape, and the weather in the splashdown zone couldn't be better," Navias added. "Winds are forecast to be 10 knots at splashdown. Wave heights less than four feet, and the wave periodics against the capsule as it bobs in the Pacific Ocean [will be] about 17 seconds.

"We are expecting a few broken and scattered clouds, but that is not an issue," he concluded. "Integrity is coming home through the law of orbital mechanics."

How can the crew steer to the landing site?

As Orion falls back to Earth, the crew is not flying the capsule the same way a pilot would fly an airplane.

Instead, the spacecraft uses a combination of onboard guidance and thrusters to control where it lands. The crew can monitor the process and step in if needed, but most of the work for landing is done by the spacecraft's guidance and control system. Small thrusters can help orient Orion during re-entry, making sure the heat shield stays properly positioned and the capsule follows the right path down to Earth.

According to NASA,when Orion hits the upper atmosphere just over Hawaii at around 7:37 p.m EDT (11:37 p.m. GMT), it will begin the final trajectory‑adjustment burn that fine-tunes its position to follow the proper flight path.

After that, the spacecraft will begin a series of roll maneuvers to safely separate itself from the other falling hardware due to the service module separating only moments earlier. It's at this point that Orion will reach that maximum velocity of 23,864 mph (38,405 km/h).

'Reasons to be confident' about heat shield

Yesterday, I reported on the issue with Orion's heat shield. The heat shield will be essential for bringing the astronauts home safely today, but some experts are concerned about how it will perform.

NASA used essentially the same heat shield for the uncrewed Artemis I mission in 2022, and that one suffered much more than expected. As a result, the space agency has opted to adjust the reentry path for Artemis II to mitigate risks to the heat shield.

To learn a bit more about how the shield will hold up today, I spoke with Ed Macaulay, a lecturer in physics and data science at Queen Mary University of London who recently wrote about heat shield safety concerns in The Conversation. You can read the interview here.

Where we're at so far

Rob Navias back with another fetching telemetry visualization for the Orion capsule Integrity.

From launch to splashdown, the mission will have logged a total distance of 694,481 miles (1,117,659 kilometers), Navias noted.

Artemis II's trajectory was modeled off Apollo 13's

There's something delightfully poetic about how Artemis, the twin sister of Apollo in Greek mythology, is on a trajectory modeled after the Apollo 13 mission.

The path around the moon and back to Earth is a free-return path, meaning the Orion spacecraft uses both the moon's and Earth's natural orbits to maximize efficiency.

And that's not just to save fuel — this is the same lifesaving geometry that helped Apollo 13 make it home after an on-board explosion sent its mission very off-script (we have this mission to thank for the phrase "Houston, we have a problem").

That means that if anything had gone wrong with Artemis II's thrusters, it would have been much less of a problem, Houston.

Moonshots

As the astronauts wake up, we'll expect to hear more chatter from them on the comms soon, Rob Navias tells us.

In the meantime, let's take another admiring look at their astrophotography skill with some of the stunning snaps they took on their flyby of the moon.

If you want to take a closer look, or learn about these shots in more detail, check out my story on them here.

Here wee go

NASA's Jacki Mahaffey, Artemis II chief training officer in charge of communications with the crew today, is running through some cabin configurations with the crew before reentry.

One of them involves the stowing of the collapsable contingency urinal (CCU) — a container used on Artemis II after the notorious malfunction of their space toilet.

Christina Koch has told Mahaffey that the CCU is now stowed and sealed inside two ziploc bags.

"We feel that's unaccessible now," Koch said. "And we'd like to keep it in that config."

Did they really see green on the moon?

During a 7-hour lunar flyby earlier this week, Artemis II crewmembers called out their observations of the moon’s surface while simultaneously photographing it — giving members of the science team back on Earth a minute-by-minute account of the rare research expedition.

Several observations already stand out, according to Gordon Osinski, a crater specialist and lunar geologist who helped train the Artemis II astronauts on what to look for.

Besides seeing at least five impact flashes — bright bursts of light from space rocks pummelling the lunar surface — the crew also reported seeing patches of green and brown colorations on the moon.

"We do know there is color on the lunar surface," Osinski told Live Science contributor Elizabeth Howell in an interview.

What those patches signify, geologically, needs further investigation when the crew arrives home.

But this much is clear, Osinski said: The human eye is more sensitive to color than the cameras on board Artemis II, underscoring the importance of sending trained humans on scientific space missions rather than just relying on machines.

Read the full story here.

Burn coming up

Orion is about to make its third return trajectory correction burn, scheduled for 2:53 p.m. EDT (6:53 p.m. GMT).

This 8-second burn is to tweak Orion's trajectory, ensuring the crew maintain a precise course for their reentry.

Editor's note: This post has been corrected to reflect that the third trajectory burn occurred at 2:53 p.m. EDT, not 1:53 p.m. EDT.

Oops

When I said "Orion is about to make its third return trajectory correction burn," what I meant to say was, "Orion is going to make its third return trajectory correction burn in an hour."

The 8-second burn is scheduled for 2:53 p.m. Apologies. I'm just so excited for this burn.

A view of the crew

Here's our first glimpse of the crew from inside Orion's cockpit today, with commander Reid Wiseman and pilot Victor Glover reviewing timeline parameters and some of the systems status boards on the flight deck.

Who will be picking up the astronauts?

Thanks to the close proximity of the Naval Base San Diego, members of the Navy, aboard the USS John Murtha, will be pulling the crew out of the capsule and aboard helicopters.

From there the astronauts will get transported to the Johnson Space Center.

Christina Koch will be hoisted from the capsule first, then Jeremy Hansen, then Victor Glover and then finally Reid Wiseman. Both Koch and Hansen will ride in the first helicopter and Glover and Wiseman in the second, according to NASA's ongoing livestream.

The astronauts just got a little confused over Excel file names

Pilot Victor Glover has just been chatting burn numbers with Jacki Mahaffey.

There was some confusion about Excel file names, but it looks like they're all set now.

With this and Koch's difficulties getting a Bluetooth device to pair after liftoff, it's nice to see these incredibly well-trained astronauts struggling with the same issues as us mere mortals.

The burn conference has concluded.

What technique is NASA using for a safe reentry?

Besides liftoff, Orion's trip back to Earth will be the most dramatic aspect of Artemis II. After looping around the moon, the spacecraft will slam back into Earth's atmosphere at 25,000 mph (40,000 km/h).

This means the positioning of the craft needs to be ultra-precise — come in too steep and the vehicle faces punishing heat and pressure; but come in too shallow and it can skip away from the atmosphere.

What's worse is that the gas around the spacecraft gets so hot it turns into electrically conductive plasma, which blocks communications between the craft and ground control, essentially forcing the astronauts to endure a bumpy, scary ride in radio silence for about six minutes. During this reentry, the four astronauts will go from experiencing weightlessness to up to 3.9Gs.

NASA has said that Orion's heat shield must protect the spacecraft from temperatures of around 5,000 degrees Fahrenheit (2,7000 degrees Celsius) during reentry. However, experts are concerned about the integrity of the heat shield, as it's similar to the one used in the Artemis I mission, and that shield cracked during re-entry.

NASA used a skip reentry technique with Artemis I, which has the capsule dip into the upper atmosphere and slow down using drag before bouncing up again, a technique that is supposed to be smoother for astronauts.

However, due to the shield concerns, NASA plans on a more lofted direct entry, sending Orion straight into the atmosphere for a steady, controlled return to the Pacific Ocean.

"If we stick to the new reentry path that NASA has planned, then this heat shield will be safe to fly," Wiseman said.

Joke time

To lighten the mood after that intense burn conference, I think it's time for a joke. This one comes from Funology.

Why did the cow go in the spaceship?

It wanted to see the mooooooon!

Editor's note: The Artemis II crew are not cows.

Ideal weather conditions

The weather forecast continues to look great for splashdown. Wind speeds are at about 10 knots, and waves are less than 1.2 meters (4 feet) high off the coast of San Diego.

The Artemis II crew should have a peaceful time bobbing in the ocean if all goes to plan. You know, after hurtling to Earth at 25,000 mph (40,000 km/h).

As NASA's mission commentator Rob Navias puts it, "Knots not an issue."

Okay, that's enough poor jokes for now. Joke time is over.

Get ready for burn

Orion is closing in on its third return trajectory correction burn, scheduled for 2:53 p.m. ET.

This 8-second burn is to tweak Orion's trajectory, ensuring the crew maintains a precise course for their reentry.

NASA's mission commentator, Rob Navias, just reminded us that this third return trajectory correction burn and the subsequent crew module raised burn are final amendments to Orion's angle of reentry, designed to minimize impacts upon the heat shield.

You can read more about Artemis II's faulty heat shield in my Q&A with space expert Ed Macaulay. Check out the full story here.

"It is yet another spectacular view"

That's commander Reid Wiseman speaking, as sunlight streams into the Orion cockpit after the spacecraft assumed the orientation for burn.

Burn, Orion, burn

Burn complete! The third return trajectory correction burn is now in the books, and the Artemis II crew is keeping a steady course toward home.

Well, it was only a little bit of excitement. I know you're really here for reentry.

When was the last splashdown before Artemis II?

It was actually only a couple of months ago, when SpaceX's Crew-11 returned early from the International Space Station (ISS) on January 15, 2026 due to a medical emergency.

The unknown medical episode was experienced by astronaut Michael Fincke. According to Fincke, the episode happened on January 7, after he had been preparing for a spacewalk.

He said he couldn't talk, felt no pain, and that the event lasted about 20 minutes. Doctors have reportedly ruled out a heart attack, but the exact cause is still unclear.

Returning from the moon is much harder than doing it from the International Space Station. Here's why.

But that's not to say that coming home from the International Space Station (ISS) and returning from the moon are really that comparable in terms of challenge. The biggest reason is speed.

A spacecraft returning from the ISS is returning from low Earth orbit, which means it's already circling relatively close to our planet. In contrast, a spacecraft returning from the moon is coming from thousands of miles away, meaning they took more thrust to get up there, and accelerate back down for longer.

Capsules coming from the moon return at a speed of around 25,000 mph (40,000 km/h), which is about 7,500 mph faster than the 17,500 mph (28,000 km/h) speed of those returning from the ISS.

That higher speed makes reentry around two times hotter than an ISS return, making the descent harsher on crew and capsule. Because of this, lunar capsules have to be built with more robust heat shields to withstand the higher temperatures.

"We're going to need a copy of that photo"

Wiseman and Glover have just been snapping photos of what appears to be a gorgeous view of Earth from inside Orion. Wiseman then held up his phone to show off one of the photos.

"We're going to need a copy of that photo when you guys get back," Jacki Mahaffey said over crew communications.

We're going to need a copy, too, Wiseman.

Just how fast will Orion be moving?

According to NASA, Orion will be descending at an incredible speed of around 24,000 mph. That may be hard to wrap your head around, so here are a few comparisons:

• It's about 24 times faster than a speeding bullet
• It's about 32 times the speed of sound (767 mph or 1,234 km/h)
• It's about 400 miles (643 kilometers) a minute. So you could get from New York City to Washington, D.C. in under a minute. You could travel across the continental US in 7 minutes and run the New York Marathon in under four seconds at this speed.
• You could circle the Earth in about 1 hour. The circumference of the Earth is about 24,901 miles (40,074 km) so it would be a little over an hour to see the whole planet.

Needless to say, it's quite fast!

The storm to come

It's the quiet before the storm on NASA's live mission feed at the moment.

The crew completed their final return trajectory correction burn a little while ago, and we're now watching a serene view of Earth cast in shadow, getting ominously larger and larger from Orion's perspective.

A reminder that we're currently watching NASA's live mission coverage, along with more than 220,000 other people on YouTube.

NASA's "Crew Comes Home" broadcast begins at 6:30 p.m. EDT (10:30 p.m. GMT) on YouTube and a variety of streaming services.

The final stages of descent will begin at 7:30 p.m. EDT (11:30 p.m. GMT) when Orion's crew module separates from the service module. It'll be not long after this, that Orion's heat shield will face a significant test.

Why do spacecraft still land in the ocean?

Even with modern technology like reusable rockets and autonomous docking, many spacecraft still come back to Earth the old-fashioned way: splash landing in the ocean.

This is because the water is a bit more forgivable than landing on a hard surface.

A capsule goes through a punishing experience when reentering Earth's atmosphere, placing it under extreme heat and intense pressures.

Water can help absorb some of the impact of landing, which is especially useful for blunt-bodied capsules like Orion that are designed to descend under parachutes rather than glide down like an airplane.

Landing in the ocean also gives mission planners far more room to work with, as they don't have to try to steer the capsule from accidentally landing in a populated area.

Ocean landings make sense in general because most missions return over vast stretches of water anyway. Rather than trying to steer a spacecraft toward a small runway or remote desert area, teams can aim for a broad zone and position rescue ships nearby.

How to watch the splashdown

NASA will stream live coverage of what is expected to be an epic splashdown of the Artemis II Orion spacecraft.

You can watch NASA's broadcast for free on its YouTube channel and various other social media platforms.

NASA's broadcast will also be available to watch through a variety of streaming services, including Netflix, Amazon Prime, Apple TV, HBO Max, Discovery+, Peacock and Roku, as well as NASA's own streaming platform, NASA+.

The "Crew Comes Home" broadcast begins at 6:30 p.m. EDT (10:30 p.m. GMT), but you can tune into NASA's live mission coverage now — that's what we're watching — to see the Earth slowly get larger from Orion's perspective and keep up with any crew or mission updates.

Recovery operations are underway

We just got a view of some of the helicopters that will assist in the Artemis II recovery later today. NASA is using the USS John P. Murtha, a massive transport dock ship, for its recovery operations.

NASA and the U.S. military will use helicopters to retrieve the crew from inside the Orion capsule, which will be floating in the water, and fly them to the USS John P. Murtha.

A quick fist bump

As they near Earth, the Artemis II astronuats have shared a quick fist bump to celebrate some successful late stage checks. The countdown to splashdown is now at 3 hours and 50 minutes.

What do engineers learn from a returned spacecraft?

Even though a splashdown signals a mission's end, there's still much to learn from the spacecraft after it lands in the ocean.

For NASA engineers, that means studying the capsule to see how well it actually performed upon reentry versus in the computer models and practice tests.

They will inspect the heat shield to see how it handled the extreme temperatures of reentry. Engineers will also look at scorch marks, wear patterns, seals, parachute hardware and other structural components of the capsule to compare the real results against ground testing.

The inside of the capsule can also give some insights for future missions. Engineers will review how seats, restraints, storage displays and onboard systems performed during the bumpiest parts of the re-entry. This enables designers to continually improve the crew quarters.

All of these findings get written up in post-landing reports for mission planners and engineers to use for future missions.

What's next for the Artemis program?

Even as we near splashdown, Artemis II is far from over yet. NASA still needs to go through all of the data collected during the mission and reveal all of its findings.

However, NASA will soon switch focus to its future Artemis missions.

Artemis III is up next. NASA recently announced a sweeping overhaul of the Artemis program, which will see Artemis III test the docking capabilities of the Orion crew capsule with a lunar lander in Earth orbit in 2027.

Artemis III was originally supposed to be the first crewed lunar landing mission. However, NASA is now targeting Artemis IV and Artemis V for moon landing missions, both scheduled for 2028. Artemis V is also supposed to lay the foundations for NASA's permanent lunar base.

Or China could land on the moon first

But, of course, there's a strong possibility that China gets there first.

China is threatening to overtake the U.S. as the leader in space exploration in the "new space race." Both countries are planning to establish a presence on the moon, and while NASA's current lunar landings schedule will put its astronauts there ahead of China's taikonauts, there's no guarantee the U.S. will get its people on the moon first.

NASA plans to put humans on the lunar surface twice in 2028 as part of the Artemis IV and Artemis V missions. China, on the other hand, wants to land its own astronauts on the moon before 2030, which is at most two years after NASA.

It's worth keeping in mind that the Artemis program has been fraught with delays. NASA was originally targeting a moon landing in 2024. That landing still hasn't happened, and any further delays could see the U.S. and China shooting for the lunar surface in the same year. Of course, Artemis II demonstrates that NASA is still capable of sending humans to the moon, something China has yet to achieve.

China wants to send humans to the moon in its Mengzhou spacecraft, taken into space on a Long March 10 rocket. Another rocket is then supposed to transport China's Lanyue lunar lander to the moon on a separate flight, before rendezvousing with Mengzhou around the moon, Nature reported.

The China Manned Spaceflight Agency has carried out several uncrewed tests of its Mengzhou spacecraft, and has plans to test it again during an uncrewed trip to China's Tiangong space station later this year. Full details of China's lunar landing plans have not yet been made public.

NASA is also facing some steep cuts

Yet another big unknown in NASA's fortunes are ... the whims of President Donald Trump.

Just two days after Artemis II's historic launch, the White House released a budget blueprint calling for a 23% cut to NASA's budget. That amounts to a cut of $5.6 billion.

A similar budget announced last year was defeated by Congress, but it nonetheless places NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman in the unenviable position of having to both defend these cuts while drumming up investment for a NASA moon base and a nuclear propulsion reactor to Mars.

And then there's Mars

The U.S. and China aren't planning to stop their space-faring activities at the moon. Both countries want to send humans to Mars. Their progress towards this ambitious goal will hinge on what they are able to achieve on the moon.

However, China is likely to pull ahead in one Martian race: Sample return.

China's Tianwen-3 sample return mission aims to be the first to collect rocks from the Red Planet. The mission is scheduled to launch in 2028 and return to Earth in 2031.

Meanwhile, NASA's Mars Sample Return program was effectively cancelled in January as part of Congress-approved spending cuts.

Toilet deactivated

"Houston, Integrity for toilet deactivation," Christina Koch said over comms.

"... go ahead for toilet," was the response from Houston, courtesy of Stan Love.

Returning to Earth means deactivating your space toilet. The Orion toilet has been firmly in the spotlight for this mission, having previously malfunctioned.

Earlier, the crew stowed the collapsable contingency urinal (CCU), or the containers the crew used after said malfunction.

Three hours to splashdown: Where we're at so far

If you're just joining us, the Artemis II Orion spacecraft and its four-person crew are closing in on Earth. NASA is targeting 8:07 p.m. EDT (12:07 a.m. GMT) for a splashdown off the coast of San Diego, putting us within a few hours of the crew returning to Earth.

It has been smooth sailing for NASA and the crew thus far. Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen got up at 11:35 a.m. EDT (3:35 p.m. GMT) with a wake-up call of songs from Live and the Zac Brown Band. The wake-up included a special pre-recorded message from Zac of the Zac Brown Band.

"Just want to say how proud of you we are," Zac said. "It takes courage and grit and freedom to chase the unknown. It's the purest kind of American spirit. Millions back home are looking up and feeling more inspired because of you. Keep flying strong. Keep flying safe. Can't wait to welcome you home."

"What a great way to start the day, Houston," said Artemis II commander Reid Wiseman. "Courage and grit. That'll stick with me and it should stick with all of you all day long."

At 1:50 p.m EDT (5:50 p.m. GMT), Orion began cabin configuration for re-entry and then at 2:53 p.m. (6:53 p.m. GMT) we had the third and final return trajectory correction burn. The 8-second burn tweaked Orion's trajectory, ensuring the crew maintains a precise course for their reentry.

NASA's mission commentator, Rob Navias, reminded us at the time that this third return trajectory correction burn and upcoming crew module raised burn are final amendments to Orion's angle of reentry, designed to minimize impacts upon the heat shield.

You can read more about Artemis II's faulty heat shield in my Q&A with space expert Ed Macaulay. Check out the full story here.

What else has happened? Well, the crew stowed the collapsable contingency urinal (CCU) — a container used on Artemis II after the notorious malfunction of their space toilet.

"We feel that's unaccessible now," Koch said after the stowing. "And we'd like to keep it in that config."

Wiseman and Glover have snapped some nice photos of Earth on their phones, which NASA would like copies on their return — as would we. And the pair shared a quick fist bump to celebrate some successful late-stage checks.

You're joining us just after the pesky mission toilet got deactivated, so things are looking up from here. Or down, depending on your perspective.

"I remember that class"

A few minutes ago, Reid Wiseman asked Jacki Mahaffey about a raise burn reading of 44 seconds, compared to an estimate made in the entry plan that was only 19 seconds.

Jacki reminded Wiseman that the reading in question doesn't take into account that Orion will have separated from its service module by that point, so it's a different math calculation.

"I remember that class in November of 2023 in building five on the third floor," Wiseman replies. "Thank you very much."

The astronauts have a lot to remember.

What does it take to get a crater named on the moon?

There were a lot of emotional moments during the Artemis II mission, but the biggest tear-jerker for us was when Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen suggested a lunar crater be named after fellow Artemis astronaut Reid Weisman's late wife Carroll.

"It's a bright spot on the moon. And we would like to call it 'Carroll,'" Hansen said, holding back tears.

But how does a crater on the moon actually get named? Well, it's more complicated than just making a suggestion, even if it's coming from an astronaut breaking a number of major lunar records.

The International Astronomical Union (IAU) is the governing body in charge of accepting and publishing official names for space objects like moons, asteroids, comets and even craters, and NASA will formally submit the proposals after the mission is completed. The Paris-based non-governmental organization's criteria can be summarized as follows:

The person the astronomical object is named after has made some serious scientific contributions, preferably to astronomy.

The person has been deceased for at least three years before the crater name becomes official.

It can't be the same name as other lunar craters or structures

Other crater names include Aristoteles (after astronomer Aristotle), Tycho (after astronomer Tycho Brahe), Shackleton (after explorer Ernest Shackleton) and Dryden (after former NASA Director Hugh Latimer Dryden). There are also craters named after crew members from the Apollo 8 mission, and to honor the lives lost in the Apollo 1, Challenger and Columbia disasters.

So, if Carroll is accepted as a crater name, it will become another entry in the history books in this historic Artemis II mission.

Crew working through reentry checklist as they prepare for a bumpy landing

Everything is going to plan so far, as the crew work their way through their reentry list before changing into their suits for landing.

Like how the flight attendants remind you to stow your laptops and put up your tray tables when your plane begins its descent, the Artemis II crew have to do something similar when preparing the Orion capsule for reentry. Only theirs is a tad more extreme.

This means stowing loose gear, securing checklists, packing away any personal items, and making sure anything that could float, shift or bump around during reentry is locked down.

The Artemis II descent is going to happen about 40 times faster than a passenger jet and will be way, way bumpier. This means that anything that's loose could become a hazard when Orion starts shaking during re-entry and then hits the ocean.

The crew also has to prepare themselves for reentry by configuring their seats and getting into their entry suits. This way, by the time Orion enters the Earth's atmosphere, everything is tucked away and the crew are buckled in for their historic descent.

Recovery practice makes recovery perfect

The Artemis astronauts aren’t the only ones who have prepared extensively for today’s reentry: The U.S. Navy’s dive medical team, which will recover the astronauts from their capsule after splashdown, have been hard at work preparing too.

To simulate a real recovery at sea, NASA made a full-scale mockup of the Orion capsule for the Navy to deploy into the water earlier this year. Using speedboats and aircraft, the team ran through the day’s procedures on the fake spacecraft multiple times.

According to one Navy team member on Reddit, the Artemis astronauts even signed the inside of the mockup capsule. Now that’s attention to detail!

Hardly a pale blue dot anymore

Earth is no longer looking quite so small or fragile as it did over the past week from the Orion capsule.

Things will only heat up from here.

Leak check complete

The Artemis II astronauts have just had their suits checked for leaks. NASA's mission commentator, Rob Navias, tells us the suits passed – no leaks!

Another stage cleared, and once again, all is going smoothly for NASA and the crew aboard Orion.

Suited up

The crew are now suited up aboard the Orion capsule, all set to return as they left.

Not a record-breaking return after all?

Darroll Nail from NASA communications has appeared on the feed with an interesting update.

NASA's flight dynamics team has calculated that the spacecraft should reach a top speed of 24,661.21 mph (39,688 km/h) after reentry.

If the team's calculations are right, that should put the Artemis II crew 130 mph (209 km/h) behind the top speed of Apollo 10's 24,791 mph (39,897 km/h) return.

NASA+ Coverage kicks off

While NASA's YouTube is livestreaming the splashdown, eager viewers can also watch the historic landing on NASA+, NASA's free streaming service.

NASA+ is NASA's attempt to make space coverage work more like modern media — built for on-demand viewing instead of waiting for broadcast TV. The agency introduced the service in 2023 as a new home for live launch coverage, original video series, kids' programming, Spanish-language content and news.

Netflix will also be streaming NASA+'s livestream of the splashdown, scheduled to land at approximately 8 p.m. EDT/5 p.m. PDT (12:00 a.m. GMT).

How many G's will the astronauts experience?

The ride back to Earth is not going to be a smooth one. According to NASA's flight controller Rick Henfling, Artemis II's Orion capsule will decelerate from around 24,000 mph to 19 mph (38,600 km/h to 31 km/h) in around 14 minutes. That's six minutes shorter than the 20 minutes it took the 2022 Artemis I mission to do the same.

This more direct descent is an attempt to decrease the amount of strain on Orion's heat shield, which had some experts concerned due to it cracking during the Artemis I descent.

So what does that mean for the astronauts? Experts calculate that the crew is about to feel up to 3.9 Gs during re-entry, or about four times the usual weight of gravity.

In other words, the astronauts' bodies will feel almost four times heavier than before they left Earth. Talking will feel heavier, breathing will be difficult, and they will not want to move. This will probably feel even more extreme for them given that they've been experiencing weightlessness for the past 10 days.

That G-force is a sign the spacecraft is doing its job, as reentry is all about shedding tons of speed in a safe way, using drag from the atmosphere as a type of brake.

Unfortunately, the price of braking is heat and G-force.

34 minutes that will define the mission

Artemis II and its astronauts have almost completed a historic spaceflight around the moon.

But today, this 10-day mission will be defined by just 34 minutes. That's the length of time between Orion's crew module separating from its service module, exposing Artemis II's much-discussed heat shield, and Orion splashing down in the Pacific Ocean.

Separation will occur at 7:33 p.m EDT (11:33 p.m. GMT). Four minutes later, Orion will make its final burn of the mission; a raise burn to refine its trajectory and hit a line that will reduce stress on the heat shield. Of course, the heat shield will still have to repel temperatures of 5,000 degrees Fahrenheit (2,800 degrees Celsius), which is about half as hot as those on the surface of the sun.

At 7:53 p.m. (11:53 a.m. GMT), Orion will reach 400,000 feet above the Earth. Traveling at almost 35 times the speed of sound, the astronauts inside the capsule are expected to pull up to 3.9 Gs. This is when NASA's planned 6-minute communications blackout with the astronauts begins — plasma will build up around the capsule and block communications.

For 10 minutes, the astronauts will race toward Earth at a blistering pace.

Then, at 8:03 p.m. (12:03 a.m. GMT), at 22,000 feet above Earth, the parachutes will deploy. The capsule will quickly decelerate, reducing in speed to less than 136 mph (219 km/h). From here, the capsule will continue to decelerate to just 19 mph (31 km/h), floating down to Earth to hit the Pacific Ocean at 8:07 p.m. EDT (12:07 a.m. GMT).

If all goes to plan, 34 minutes, and the Artemis II mission will end in triumph.

NASA expects Orion to splashdown upright

When it hits Earth's atmosphere, the Orion capsule will be traveling at a mind-boggling 11 km/s (40,000 km/h) speed, around 40 times faster than a passenger jet. That fast descent will be in brief radio silence, as an electrically conductive plasma will surround the craft, blocking all communications between it and ground control for around six minutes.

According to NASA's mission commentator, Rob Navias, NASA expects the Orion spacecraft to land upright in the Pacific ocean off the coast of San Diego.

However, there still is a chance Orion could land inverted into the ocean. If that happens, Orion won't stay upside down for long. The capsule is fitted with something called the Crew Module Uprighting System (CMUS), which was originally installed before Artemis I in 2022. The CMUS is essentially five giant airbags mounted to the top of the capsule. If Orion splashes down inverted, or rolls into a bad position thanks to rough ocean waves, the CMUS inflates and rotates the spacecraft back to its proper position, where the crew can exit through the side hatch.

NASA says the uprighting system takes less than four minutes to flip the capsule and can keep Orion upright and stable for at least 24 hours in the ocean if needed. Not only does the capsule need to be upright for communications to work, but it's also safer for the astronauts.

One hour till splashdown!

If you're just joining us here at Live Science we are exactly 1 hour away from the scheduled Artemis II splashdown. The Orion capsule will land in the Pacific Ocean just off the coast of San Diego.

Stay tuned as we continue covering this story.

How are heat shields made?

The main reason why a spacecraft doesn't get burned up upon reentry is due to its heat shield.

So what makes this shield so special? For one thing, it's designed to carry heat away from the spacecraft during reentry. Orion's heat shield is around 16.5 feet in diameter and built around a titanium skeleton with a composite carbon-fiber skin that gives it shape and structural strength.

On top of that structure, engineers attach blocks of Avcoat, an ablative material derived from the one used on Apollo. Rather than trying to resist all the heat, the Avcoat works by ablating, meaning it chars, breaks down and carries heat away as it wears away.

So, if all goes according to plan, the Avcoat erodes gradually during the re-entry process. NASA says that this process helps keep the cabin crew far cooler on the other side of the heat shield. The Avcoat layer, made of 186 blocks, can withstand around 5,000 degrees Fahrenheit (2,760 degrees Celsius), according to NASA.

NASA sends GPS signal to Integrity

NASA is about to send some GPS data to the Orion spacecraft to let its onboard computers know that it's on the right track for a successful splashdown.

All quiet in mission control

The Orion capsule is now entering its most critical phase one minute ahead of crew module separation.

Crew module separation complete

The crew module has now separated from the service vehicle, exposing Orion's heat shield for the module's descent through Earth's atmosphere.

It will now encounter temperatures of 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit (1649 degrees Celsius), according to NASA. Just how hot is this? I'm glad you asked!

Orion is coming in hot, so how hot will it get?

As it begins reentry, the Orion capsule is experiencing some extreme heat.

This is due to a process known as compressive heating, where the spacecraft compresses the air in front of it. This compressed air can get hot, really hot, which is why spacecraft like Orion need heat shields to protect the craft and the crew from burning up upon re-entry.

So how hot is Orion getting? According to NASA, the spacecraft is heating up to 5,000 degrees Fahrenheit or 2,800 degrees Celsius. That's a big number to think about so we've made a few common comparisons

It's about half as hot as our sun

It's about 10 times hotter than your home oven (around 500 degrees Fahrenheit).

More than twice as hot as lava (around 2,200 degrees Fahrenheit)

Around the same heat as a welding torch (6,000 degrees Fahrenheit).

Raise that burn

The Orion capsule is set to perform its raise burn maneuver.

As the name suggests, this is the kind of burn that raises the Orion spacecraft, once again refining its trajectory as the crew prepares to reenter Earth's atmosphere at just the right angle for a smooth (ish, they'll be pulling 3.9 Gs) and precise ride.

The burn will last for 18 seconds. This is the final burn of the mission. Orion's ultimate test is about to begin.

Burn complete

Raise burn is now complete.

Orion is now on the precise trajectory needed to splash down just off the coast of San Diego.

Artemis II, you are coming home.

"It looks a little smaller than yesterday"

Those were commander Reid Wiseman's comments on the moon from his window.

"Guess we'll have to go back," responded capcom Jacki Mahaffey.

Why is the Integrity crew capsule doing 180 degree rolls?

The crew module is now performing a couple of dramatic rolls before descending into Earth's atmosphere.

No, it's not showing off.

This is not only to safely clear any debris that may have been produced from the separation from the service module but it also helps to reorient the capsule to meet Earth's atmosphere with the right face.

Orion hits the Earth's atmosphere

Orion has now hit the first traces of Earth's upper atmosphere at 400,000 feet (122 kilometers) above the Earth.

Travelling at almost 35 times the speed of sound, the astronauts inside the capsule are expected to pull up to 3.9 Gs, or what you might feel on a really good roller coaster.

NASA's planned 6-minute communications blackout with the astronauts, and the test of Artemis II's heat shield will soon begin.

Communications blackout

Orion will now experience an exactly six-minute communications blackout.

This is because plasma builds up around the spacecraft as it races through Earth's atmosphere, temporarily blocking communications from the crew.

Millions now tuning in

The Artemis II splashdown broadcast wasn't receiving nearly as many viewers as NASA's launch coverage, but that is now changing, fast!

About 3 million people are watching live on NASA's YouTube channel alone, and the total viewership will end up well above that. The world holds its breath.

Where are they reentering?

The Artemis II crew is breaching the upper atmosphere southeast of Hawaii.

At 6,000 feet (1.8 kilometers), the Orion capsule will release its three parachutes for a slow and steady descent. Orion will move closer to land while it's under parachute, eventually splashing down off the coast of San Diego.

Here's a nice graphic of the parachute sequence and where the crew will eventually end up, assuming all goes to plan — which it looks like it is.

Hushed quiet in mission control

Orion's heat shield is now approaching peak heating.

Communications restored as parachutes begin to deploy

Orion has now come out of the communications blackout at an altitude of around 22,000 feet (6.7 kilometer).

According to NASA's re-entry plan, the Orion will jettison its front bay cover and unfurl its drogue parachutes.

After these parachutes come the three main parachutes, each weighing 300 pounds (136 kilograms). Those three parachutes will slow Orion down to a gentle 19 mph (31 km/h) before it hits the ocean.

Cheers in mission control

Cheers from the mission room as communication is restored with commander Reid Wiseman. They're five minutes away from coming home.

"We have you loud and clear"

Orion is back on comms to Jacki Mahaffey: "We have you loud and clear."

Those are the words of Artemis II's commander Reid Wiseman as he and his crew speed to splashdown.

Drogues deployed

Two good drogue chutes deployed.

Main chutes deployed

Three good main chutes deployed as Integrity passes 5,000 feet (1.5 kilometers). We're nearly there. This is a pitch-perfect descent.

Splashdown!

The Orion capsule has hit the ocean surface.

A heart-thumping reentry is complete. The Artemis II crew is home. And breathe.

Navy recovery begins

As NASA powers down the Orion spacecraft for the last time, the Navy recovery team is moving in. Members of the Navy dive medical team will approach the side of the capsule and inflate a large raft called the "front porch."

Then, when NASA gives the go-ahead, the team will open the capsule and do a preliminary medical check of the Artemis II crew. Following this check, the recovery team will pull the astronauts out of the capsule one by one, starting with Christina Koch.

This will be the astronauts’ first exposure to Earth’s gravity in more than 9 days, so they may feel a little weak and wobbly at first as they find their "land legs."

When everyone feels ready, the astronauts will be lifted one by one into a pair of waiting Navy helicopters. Next, they’ll all fly to the USS Murtha transport dock ship to receive a more comprehensive medical exam.

Integrity is now powering down

NASA is now beginning to power down Integrity so that the U.S. Navy recovery team can safely approach.

"We hear them, but it does not appear that they hear us."

A U.S. Navy fast boat has arrived at the splashdown site. Artemis II's crew are now coordinating with mission control for the power down.

They are also fixing a troublesome satphone link with the Navy recovery team.

The recovery team is standing by

Still troubleshooting that pesky satphone as Integrity powers down.

"I'm still at a loss for words"

"Childhood Jared right now can't believe what I just saw," said NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman onboard the USS John P. Murtha. "We are back in the business of sending astronuats to the moon."

"This is just the beginning, we are gonna get back into doing this with frequency, sending missions to the moon until we land on it in 2028 and start building our base," he added.

Integrity has been powered down

The Orion capsule has been powered down, with four healthy crew members on board.

Flight director Rick Henfling has handed over authority to the exploration ground systems team in the Pacific.

"The vehicle is in excellent shape"

That was NASA's mission commentator, Rob Navias on NASA's YouTube livestream, who highlighted how smooth and perfect this landing was.

He called it a "bullseye landing" and will no doubt be one for the history books in more than one way.

Post-splashdown news conference at NASA Johnson Space Center

We're currently waiting for the Navy to erect the front porch and recover the Artemis II crew.

NASA is set to hold a press conference at Johnson Space Center in Houston at 10:30 p.m. EDT to answer the public's questions about the splashdown, crew status and what's next for the Artemis program. According to NASA: "Details on the astronauts' return to Houston will be shared later."

NASA has already announced its plans for Artemis III in 2027, and two subsequent crewed missions which will land on the moon in 2028. Beyond this, the agency also plans to build a $20 billion lunar base to pave the way for a long-term human presence on the moon.

That reentry though

As we wait for crew recovery (which appears imminent) let's just relive that stunning, pitch-perfect reentry for a moment.

And maybe enjoy it a little more knowing the crew turned out okay. What a ride!

Integrity's side hatch is now open

The Artemis II crew are now getting their first breaths of Earth air in ten days.

Has Artemis II changed your feelings about space exploration?

Now Artemis II's launch and 10-day journey has landed home safely, NASA is already planning two return missions to the moon in 2028, with a mind to construct a permanent base on the lunar surface.

But NASA hardly needs convincing to boldly go where no human has gone before. The question is, do you? Let us know if the Artemis II mission has changed your views on space exploration.

Integrity bobs along

The Orion capsule is looking very dramatic right now as Navy divers perform their checks on the astronauts and we await the erection of the front porch.

Even though the upright bags do make it look like it's wearing a fetching little hat.

Here's why Artemis II crew may not quarantine post landing

It's typical before a launch for astronauts to quarantine to avoid getting sick or bringing an illness with them on a mission, something that could be a bigger problem in space.

It's also standard practice for astronauts to quarantine after landing depending on the mission. After Apollo 11, NASA famously sealed the crew inside a Mobile Quarantine Facility out of concern that lunar material might carry unknown biological hazards.

But Artemis II is different. The four astronauts aboard, Victor Glover, Jeremy Hanson, Christina Koch and Reid Wiseman, may not have to quarantine given they never left the crew capsule.

Instead they only observed the moon from space, taking photos and giving scientists a never-before-seen perspective of our lunar companion.

"All four members are green"

That means the crew are feeling good, not that their skin has turned green, NASA commentators assure us.

Space is weird, but not that weird.

The front porch is nearly fully inflated

We're getting close to the crew being able to stretch their legs a little on their home planet.

The front porch has been blown up and is being attached

This will be where the astronauts step out from the Orion capsule to appreciate the sunset off the Pacific ocean.

From here they'll be hoisted into two helicopters back to land.

Mission control is going nuts

Rob Navias is reporting "raucous scenes" at mission control in Houston, as "hundreds of flight controllers have poured into the flight control room here. This is reminiscent of the scene after the final shuttle mission."

We see an astronaut

Jubilation in the flight control room as the first crew member steps out of integrity.

And another

More cheers and applause as another crew member steps out. Two to go.

Crew member number three steps out

More applause as we stand by for commander Reid Wiseman to step out, as it bobs along in the Pacific.

All four crew members on the front porch

Reid Wiseman steps out of his ship. Mission control erupts.

The four-astronaut crew who embarked on a 685,000-mile (1.1 million kilometers) 10-day journey around the moon are back with us.

Mission control is packed right now

All of the controllers have contributed in some way to the mission. Combined with the joy of the successful splashdown is a sign saying "Welcome home Integrity." And welcome home indeed!

'They've never seen anything that precise'

Flight control director Rick Henfling mentioned that they've never seen anything as precise as Orion's landing in the Pacific ocean off the coast of San Diego.

The recovery boat floats away

The astronauts are now in the recovery boat awaiting collection.

President Trump congratulates NASA

President Trump called NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman to congratulate him on a successful splashdown and the completion of Artemis II.

Both Trump and Isaacman have made various public announcements about wanting to establish a U.S. presence on the moon.

However, only two days after Artemis II's historic launch on April 1, the White House released a budget plan calling for a 23% cut in NASA's budget, amounting to around $5.6 billion.

NASA's coverage continues

NASA will hold a press conference at 10:30 p.m. EDT (8:30 p.m. PDT or 2:30 a.m. GMT) at the Johnson Space Center in Houston to answer follow up questions after this successful splashdown.

According to NASA: "Details on the astronauts’ return to Houston will be shared later."

However, there will no doubt be questions about upcoming Artemis missions, like Artemis III, scheduled for 2027. And of course the Artemis IV and V missions, which could land humans on the moon as soon as 2028.

The longest trip from Florida to California

The astronauts are now stepping out of the helicopter and into the medical bay of the USS John P. Murtha.

While most of us would travel in a straight line from one coast of the US to the other, the Artemis astronauts took the longest trip to get from coast to coast, going a distance of 695,000 miles (1.1 million kilometers) around the moon and back again.

Commander Reid Wiseman steps off the flight deck

Applause from the crew of the USS John P. Murtha.

Bravo, Artemis II

With a successful splashdown and a safe crew retrieval, NASA's Artemis II mission has come to an end.

In the next few days, NASA will continue to monitor the crew's health and update the public on their status.

We will be continuing to follow up on the impacts of Artemis II across science, culture and beyond, so continue checking back with Live Science all your updates, analyses and expert interviews.

From all of us here from the U.K. and U.S., Ben, Patrick, Brandon and Kenna, we wish you all a fine evening. Thank you for watching history with us.

The Artemis II astronauts are about to return from a record-setting trip around the moon, but is their Orion spacecraft's heat shield safe to bring them home? NASA and the astronauts say yes, but not everyone agrees.

The Artemis II mission, which launched April 1, is set to end with a dramatic splashdown in the Pacific Ocean late Friday (April 10). NASA's first crewed flight to the moon since 1972 has led to some stunning images and poignant human moments. However, the reentry — which will occur at over 25,000 mph (40,000 km/h) to make the crew the fastest humans in history — will be the most dangerous hurdle yet.

That's because Artemis II's heat shield, which sits at the bottom of the Orion capsule and is designed to protect the crew as they hurtle through Earth's atmosphere, is almost exactly the same as the one used for Artemis I. And that heat shield cracked upon reentry.

"The capsule is going to approach temperatures on reentry of about half that of the surface of the sun," Ed Macaulay, a lecturer in physics and data science at Queen Mary University of London, told Live Science. "The heat shield is essential to protect the capsule from this scorching heat of reentry. Without it, the capsule would just completely melt and burn up."

The shield is made of a material called Avcoat, which is supposed to erode gradually upon reentry. However, NASA found that during Artemis II's predecessor, the uncrewed Artemis I mission in 2022, Orion's heat shield lost chunks of material, suffering much more than predicted.

To address this issue, NASA hasn't replaced the heat shield, however. Following an investigation, the agency concluded that it could ensure the safety of its crew by tweaking the flight path instead.

For Artemis II, Orion won't skip as high as its predecessor did on reentry; instead, it will make a little "loft" movement. The spacecraft will come in at a steeper angle and spend less time in the part of the atmosphere where the problems with Artemis I occurred.

NASA is confident this modification is sufficient to keep the astronauts safe. However, NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman has acknowledged that this approach "is not the right way to do things long term" and that there is no plan B.

"The heat shield has to work," Isaacman said in an interview shared by The Free Press on Tuesday (April 7). "I'm going to be thinking about that constantly until they're back in the water."

"I have no doubt the team did the right analysis on this," Isaacman added. "We altered the mission profile — the whole reentry profile is very different than Artemis I to account for what I would describe as the 'shortcomings' of the current heat shield on that vehicle."

It's important to note that Artemis I's heat shield didn't fail: there was plenty of Avcoat left, and data collected inside the capsule revealed that internal temperatures remained normal. If astronauts were aboard Artemis I, they would have been fine.

What happened to the Artemis I heat shield?

Some charring was expected as the Artemis I Orion capsule came racing down to Earth, reaching temperatures of around 5,000 degrees Fahrenheit (2,800 degrees Celsius).

However, when the uncrewed Orion capsule finally splashed down off the coast of Mexico on Dec. 11, 2022 — completing the hottest and fastest reentry ever — NASA immediately saw that the heat shield had lost chunks of material, suffering more than predicted.

"When the Artemis I capsule returned to Earth, it did make it safely through the atmosphere, but the damage and effects to the heat shield were more severe than had been anticipated from the modeling," Macaulay said.

So although the shield didn't fail, given this "char loss," it didn't pass with flying colors, either. In May 2024, NASA's Office of Inspector General released a report on NASA's readiness for Artemis II. The report found that the heat shield had worn away "differently than expected" in more than 100 areas, Live Science's sister site Space.com reported. At the time, the recommendations were for NASA to get to the root cause of the problem prior to the Artemis II launch.

But NASA had already committed to the heat shield for Artemis II. Technicians at NASA's Kennedy Space Center attached a heat shield to the Artemis II Orion spacecraft in July 2023, well before NASA had finished investigating the heat shield issues on Artemis I. NASA had delayed the Artemis II mission, in part to understand the issue with the heat shield, but the space agency couldn't stop working on Artemis II.

In December 2024, NASA pushed the Artemis II launch to 2026 and finally announced that it had identified the root cause of the Artemis I heat shield char loss: Essentially, the Avcoat material that's so vital to the heat shield's success couldn't "breathe."

"Engineers determined as Orion was returning from its uncrewed mission around the Moon, gases generated inside the heat shield's ablative outer material… were not able to vent and dissipate as expected," a NASA spokesperson wrote in a statement at the time. "This allowed pressure to build up and cracking to occur, causing some charred material to break off in several locations."

Tweaking the reentry

Part of the problem, it turned out, was the mission's unprecedented reentry.

For Artemis I, NASA performed a "skip" reentry, in which Orion bounced off Earth's atmosphere. The capsule skipped like a stone on a lake, dipping into the upper part of the atmosphere and then flying back out again, before reentering a second time. This strategy extended the range that Orion could fly between reentering the atmosphere and splashing into the Pacific Ocean, according to NASA. The idea was for the spacecraft to splash down closer to the U.S. and improve landing accuracy. A skip entry was also supposed to make reentry smoother for the astronauts.

As part of the heat-shield investigation, NASA replicated the Artemis I entry trajectory environment at NASA's Ames Research Center in California. Investigators found that thermal energy accumulated inside the Avcoat between dips. This caused pockets of gas to build inside the Avcoat faster than they could disperse, thereby creating pressure spikes that fractured parts of the material.

NASA had attempted to replicate the skip reentry on the ground prior to Artemis I, but the agency had tested at higher temperatures than Orion ultimately experienced. The heat shield's thermal performance had actually exceeded NASA's expectations, but it was the temperature drop that caused the problem.

"The less severe heating seen during the actual Artemis I reentry slowed down the process of char formation, while still creating gases in the char layer," the NASA spokesperson wrote. "Gas pressure built up to the point of cracking the Avcoat and releasing parts of the charred layer."

NASA found that in areas where the Avcoat was permeable, the heat shield didn't experience cracking or char loss — those parts of the heat shield could vent, so pressure didn't build up.

This isn't ideal news for Artemis II, which is using an even-less-permeable heat shield. (Around 6% of the Artemis I heat shield was permeable, whereas no areas of the Artemis II heat shield are permeable, CNN reported.) NASA made that change before the Artemis I test flight.

Why is NASA so confident?

After extensive testing and an independent review, NASA concluded that it had gotten to the bottom of the issue and that altering the reentry strategy would mitigate any risks. The Artemis II reentry won't replicate the temperature environment that NASA blames for Artemis I's heat shield problem.

Further assurance came in January 2026, when Isaacman assembled NASA's heat-shield engineers, the chair of the independent review team and senior human spaceflight officials to meet with outside experts — a meeting that also included two members of the press, Ars Technica reported.

This meeting included an analysis of what would happen if large sections of the heat shield were to fail completely. The engineers concluded that Orion's thick composite base, which contains a titanium framework, could keep the crew safe even if the Avcoat blocks outside it were entirely stripped away.

Danny Olivas, a former NASA astronaut and member of NASA's Advisory Council, was one of the experts who had attended the meeting and came away satisfied that NASA addressed the issue.

"NASA had a very difficult problem to solve but I'm pleased to share that team did an outstanding job of working the problem," Olivas wrote in a LinkedIn post following the meeting. "Hindsight is always 20/20 but this effort reinforced my appreciation of the commitment that NASA has to the safety and wellbeing of the crew."

However, not everyone is as confident in NASA's decision. Charles Camarda, a former NASA astronaut and heat-shield research engineer who has been publicly critical of the space agency, also attended the meeting and continued to speak out against the mission. In a response on LinkedIn, Camarda said NASA did not do its due diligence in defining and correcting the problem.

Camarda told CNN earlier this year that he had tried for months to get NASA leadership to heed his warnings. He is among a group of former NASA employees who don't believe the crew should have flown on Artemis II.

"The reason this is such a big deal is that when the heat shield is spalling — or you have big chunks coming off — even if the vehicle isn't destroyed, you're right at the point of incipient failure now," Dan Rasky, an advanced entry systems and thermal protection materials expert who worked at NASA for more than 30 years, told CNN. "It's like you're at the edge of the cliff on a foggy day."

Four astronauts are flying on Artemis II: Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen. Although some experts are concerned about the astronauts, the crew has expressed confidence in the heat shield, Aerospace America reported in July 2025.

"If we stick to the new reentry path that NASA has planned, then this heat shield will be safe to fly," Wiseman said.

Macaulay, who identifies as a "nervous flyer," wouldn't bet his own life on the Artemis II heat shield. However, he noted that there were plenty of reasons to be confident ahead of Friday's reentry, including that humans would have been safe aboard Artemis I and that the Artemis II mission has been successful thus far.

"It has been an extraordinary success from a technical point of view," Macaulay said. "I think that does give reasons to be confident about the reentry because it looks like there's every reason to expect that the trajectory is going to be absolutely nominal, absolutely what it is designed for. And hopefully, that's going to give them the best possible ride through reentry. I think there really are good reasons to be confident about this."

NASA has released its first batch of photos taken by the Artemis II astronauts during their historic flyby around the far side of the moon.

The first image, dubbed "Earthset," shows our planet disappearing behind the moon's pockmarked face and is reminiscent of the "Earthrise" photo taken by Apollo 8 astronaut Bill Anders in 1968. An advancing shadow delineates the night side of our planet, where billions of humans slept as the Artemis II crew made history.

Not to be outdone, a second new image shows a stunning solar eclipse witnessed as the astronauts dipped behind the moon — granting them roughly 40 minutes of complete radio silence to soak in the view.

"When we were on the far side of the moon, looking back at Earth, you really felt like you weren't in a capsule," said Artemis II mission specialist Jeremy Hansen. "You'd been transported to the far side of the moon. And it really just bent your mind. It was an extraordinary human experience. We're so grateful for it."

The Artemis II crewmembers are the first people in history to view a solar eclipse from behind the moon. Totality ‪—‬ the complete blocking of the sun by the lunar disk ‪—‬ lasted about one hour. During that time, the astronauts reported seeing bright planets (including Mars, Venus and Saturn) alongside the stars.

The faint glow of Earth's light and wisps of the sun's corona, which they described as "baby hairs," appeared on the edges of the lunar disk. (To safely view the sun's reappearance, the team wore solar eclipse glasses, just as we do on Earth.)

"This continues to be unreal," Artemis II pilot Victor Glover said at one point during the seven-hour flyby. "The sun has gone behind the moon, and the corona is still visible, and it's bright and creates a halo almost around the entire moon. The Earth is so bright out there, and the moon is just hanging in front of us."

"You'd fall straight to the center of the moon"

The flyby made Glover, Hansen, mission specialist Christina Koch and commander Reid Wiseman the first people in history to see the entire lunar far side — a feat that was impossible during the Apollo missions due to those missions' flight paths.

"Boy, I am loving the terminator," Glover called down to mission control, referring to the dividing line between day and light on the moon. "There's just so much magic in the terminator — the islands of light, the valleys that look like black holes. You'd fall straight to the center of the moon if you stepped in some of those. It's just so visually captivating."

Near the terminator line, the team also discovered two new lunar craters, which they asked to be named Integrity, after the crew capsule's official call sign, and Carroll, in honor of Wiseman's late wife.

During the flyby, the crew marveled over green and brown hues across the moon's surface, documenting the previously unseen craters and spotting new ones being made in the form of multiple impact flashes from meteors crashing into the lunar surface. All of these observations and the images they hand-captured with smartphones were fed back to NASA's lunar and planetary scientists to investigate important clues on how the moon and Earth came to be.

The flyby swung the astronauts out a maximum distance of 252,760 miles (406,777 kilometers) from Earth, breaking the previous record for the farthest humans in history by roughly 4,100 miles (6,600 km).

Much like the two dozen other astronauts who have been to the moon, the crew expressed that they felt changed by what they saw.

"When we have that perspective and we compare it to our home of Earth, it just reminds us how much we have in common," Koch said. "Everything we need, Earth provides. And that is somewhat of a miracle and one that you can't truly know until you've had the perspective of the other."

You can see the rest of the images in NASA's first release here.

Artemis II has once again made history by carrying humans farther from Earth than ever before, surpassing the record of 248,655 miles (400,171 kilometers) set by Apollo 13 in 1970.

The previous record fell today (April 6) at 1:57 p.m. EDT (17:57 GMT) as the Orion capsule "Integrity" began its loop around the far side of the moon. NASA says the mission will reach a maximum distance of 252,760 miles (406,777 kilometers) from Earth during the six-hour lunar flyby, which will break the previous human-spaceflight record by roughly 4,100 miles (6,600 kilometers).

"On April 15, 1970, during the Apollo 13 mission, three explorers set the record for the farthest distance humans have ever traveled from our home planet. At that time, over 55 years ago, [Jim] Lovell, [Jack] Swigert and [Fred] Hayes flew 248,655 statute miles away from Earth," Jenni Gibbons, a Canadian Space Agency (CSA) astronaut and capsule communicator (Capcom) on the Artemis II mission, said to the crew as they broke the record. "Today, for all humanity, you're pushing beyond that frontier."

Not long after breaking the record, the crew's trip around the moon became even more poignant as they spotted a crater between the moon's near and far sides. They called down to mission control to request it be named after Artemis II commander Reid Wiseman's late wife, Carroll.

Mission specialist Jeremy Hansen said that there was a feature on "a really neat place" on the moon "just on the near-side" of the far-side boundary.

"So at certain times of the moon's transit around Earth, we will be able to see this from Earth," Hansen said, his voice cracking. "We lost a loved one; her name was Carroll. The spouse of Reid, the mother of Katie and Ellie."

"It's a bright spot on the moon. We would like to call it Carroll," he concluded before he and the crew hugged Wiseman.

The astronauts also saw another crater they asked to be named after their capsule, "Integrity."

"Integrity and Carroll crater. Loud and clear," mission control responded.

Lunar flyby

The Orion spacecraft will move about 3,139 mph (5,052 km/h) as it passes around the moon.

During the lunar flyby, the four Artemis II astronauts — Weisman, Hansen, Christina Koch, and Victor Glover — will photograph around 30 science targets on the lunar surface. These include the huge Orientale basin, a roughly 600-mile-wide (1,000 km) impact crater that straddles the moon's near and far sides, and Hertzsprung basin, an older crater on the far side.

"I wish you were up here to see the smiling faces," Artemis II commander and astronaut Reid Weisman said today (April 6) during NASA's livestream of the lunar flyby.

The Artemis II mission will have a higher view of the moon than the Apollo missions, giving a different vantage point of the lunar surface, according to the NASA livestream. These observations are meant to give scientists fresh, close-range views of lunar geology from multiple angles during the flyby.

"It is blowing my mind what you can see with the naked eye," Glover said during the NASA livestream.

The flyby is expected to produce some of the mission's most dramatic images. From the Orion spacecraft, the crewmembers will see "Earthset" as Earth slips behind the moon, followed later by "Earthrise," as our planet reappears over the lunar horizon. The first "Earthrise" image was famously captured by the Apollo 8 mission in 1968.

According to the Associated Press, the Artemis II astronauts woke up today with a recorded message from Apollo 8 astronaut Jim Lovell shortly before he died in August 2025: "Welcome to my old neighborhood. It's a historic day and I know how busy you'll be, but don't forget to enjoy the view."

The mission's timeline will also allow the astronauts to witness a solar eclipse as the moon passes in front of the sun. Using solar eclipse glasses and special camera lenses, the crewmembers will be able to see and photograph the sun's outer atmosphere, or corona, as it peaks around the lunar edge.

"We are ready to deliver," Koch said during the NASA livestream.

What do you know about the moon? Test your knowledge with our moon quiz!

The Artemis II mission's four crewmembers have officially reached the moon system, ‪and you can watch their historic lunar flyby live along with them.

The crew's anticipated six-hour flyby of the moon begins at 2:45 p.m. EDT Monday (April 6). During this time, the astronauts — who are flying farther from Earth than any humans in history — will see the entire lunar disk outside their cabin window and have a rare chance to make up-close scientific observations of Earth's natural satellite. NASA's broadcast of the flyby begins at 1 p.m. EDT, and you can watch it right here or on the agency's YouTube page.

While the entire flyby promises to fascinate (we'll catch views of the moon's mysterious far side never seen before by human eyes), there are several key moments to watch for. Several hours into the flyby, the astronauts will swoop around the lunar far side, temporarily losing all radio contact with Earth and becoming the most remote group of humans in history. Shortly after the Orion capsule reemerges, the team will make their closest approach to the moon's surface while reaching their maximum distance from our planet.

Here's everything you need to know about the record-shattering Artemis II flight.

How far from Earth ‪— ‬and how close to the moon ‪—‬ will the astronauts get?

During their closest approach to the moon at approximately 7:02 p.m. EDT, the Artemis II crew will be about 4,066 miles (6,540 kilometers) from the lunar surface. This is significantly farther afield than the Apollo missions, which flew about 70 miles (112 km) over the surface, according to NASA.

Minutes after their closest approach to the moon, the astronauts will also reach their maximum distance from Earth. At 7:05 p.m. EDT, the crew will hit 252,757 miles (406,772 km) from the planet — surpassing the previous record, set by the Apollo 13 crew in 1970, by about 4,100 miles (6,600 kilometers).

When will the Artemis II astronauts lose contact with Earth, and for how long?

The Artemis II crew's communication blackout with Earth is expected to begin at 6:44 p.m. EDT Monday, according to NASA.The blackout is estimated to last 30 to 50 minutes as the moon blocks radio transmissions between the crew and NASA's Deep Space Network. During this quiet time, the astronauts will focus on taking photos and observations of the lunar far side, which will be about 20% illuminated by the sun at that time.

When was the last time humans visited the far side of the moon?

The last time humans reached the far side of the moon was during the Apollo era, when NASA astronauts passed behind the moon on missions that entered lunar orbit. The mission that made history first was Apollo 8 in December 1968. It was the first crewed mission to leave Earth orbit, the first to reach the moon and the first to carry astronauts to the far side.

Humans continued to visit the far side during later Apollo missions that orbited the moon, the most recent of which was the last crewed Apollo mission, Apollo 17 in 1972. That means the lunar far side has not been seen by human eyes since the Apollo program ended more than 50 years ago.

Is it really lonely there?

Yes — at least, Apollo 11 astronaut Michael Collins thought so.

While his crewmates Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin descended to the lunar surface to take their famous walk, Collins waited in the crew capsule as it drifted around the lunar far side. In an iconic Apollo 11 photo, Collins snapped Aldrin and Armstrong in their lunar lander with the blue Earth hanging in the distant background — simultaneously capturing every human in existence, except for Collins.

"I am alone now, truly alone, and absolutely isolated from any known life. I am it," Collins wrote in his book "Carrying the Fire" (Cooper Square Press, 1974). "If a count were taken, the score would be three billion plus two over on the other side of the moon, and one plus God knows what on this side." (At least the four Artemis II astronauts will have each other.)

What's the view like on the far side of the moon?

The lunar far side is rougher, brighter in many places, and more heavily cratered than the Earth-facing side we're familiar with. Instead of the broad, smooth, dark patches (called "maria") we observe from Earth, the astronauts are likely to see a rugged landscape of crater rims, lava fields and scarred terrain that shows the moon's ancient history of being bombarded by asteroids.

The Artemis II crew will see about 20% of the lunar far side illuminated by the sun. A NASA visualization shows what their view will look like moment to moment.

Here's a photo to look forward to: During the flyby, the astronauts will witness a total solar eclipse from space as the sun, moon and Orion capsule fall into perfect alignment. This will allow the team a rare chance to study the sun's corona (its bright outer atmosphere) and to look for the flashes of meteorite impacts on the moon, according to NASA.

Why is there a "dark side" of the moon?

The moon's far side is also called its "dark side," but it is not permanently dark. The moon is tidally locked to Earth, which means we always see the same side of the moon. Sunlight still reaches both hemispheres of the moon over the course of a lunar month; when the near side is bright, the far side may be dark and vice versa.

What previous research has been done on the moon's far side?

Research on the lunar far side began with robotic missions long before Artemis. The first came in 1959, when the Soviet Luna 3 mission returned the first photographs of the lunar far side. That was the first evidence that the far side had fewer maria and a much more cratered appearance, which raised major questions about how the moon formed and evolved.

Human observation began with Apollo 8 and subsequent Apollo missions. However, not all crewmembers on these missions observed the far side of the moon, because visibility depended on the orbit and lighting. This means the Artemis II astronauts may provide views of some areas no human has previously seen directly with the naked eye under those conditions.

Since the Apollo era, the most detailed far-side research has come from robotic orbiters. NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, which launched in 2009, has produced high-resolution images, topographic maps, temperature data and measurements, as well as helped to identify future landing sites, potential resources and radiation conditions that could affect human missions.

What sort of data will the astronauts collect?

Artemis II's crew will collect both lunar science data and spaceflight data. For the moon itself, the astronauts will analyze and photograph geological features on the far side, including impact craters and ancient lava flows, and practice describing subtle differences in shapes and textures. They will also record audio observations, which give scientists more context about what the crew saw in real time.

At the same time, the astronauts will collect data on themselves as the first humans to travel beyond low Earth orbit in decades. NASA says studies on the mission will examine sleep, stress, cognition, teamwork, immune responses, motion sickness, nutrition, heart health, muscle performance, eye and brain changes, and even shifts in the community of microbes living on their bodies. Data will come from monitoring devices on the astronauts' wrists; preflight and postflight testing and surveys; and biological samples, including blood, urine and saliva.

When are the Artemis II astronauts coming home?

The Artemis II astronauts are expected to return 10 days after their April 1 launch, so they will splash down sometime Saturday, April 11.

What do you know about our moon? Test your knowledge with our moon quiz!

For most of human history, the moon has been more than a distant object in our night sky. It has served as a clock, a guide, a deity and a scientific focus. Now, as NASA's Artemis II mission returns astronauts to the lunar system for the first time in over 50 years, humanity's relationship with our celestial neighbor may never be the same.

In her book "Our Moon: How Earth's Celestial Companion Transformed the Planet, Guided Evolution, and Made Us Who We Are" (Penguin Random House, 2025), science writer Rebecca Boyle traces that deep relationship, showing how the moon has shaped not just Earth itself but also the way we understand our place in the universe. The book journeys through history with a lunar lens, with Boyle weaving science with civilization and culture.

Live Science spoke with Boyle about her book, why humanity continues to be fascinated by the moon, and how NASA's Artemis program may change how we view our lunar companion.

Kenna Hughes-Castleberry: What are some of the biggest ways humanity's view of the moon has changed over the centuries?

Rebecca Boyle: This is something that I did in my book, was try to figure out what are the earliest relationships people had to the moon. As far as I could find, and as far as there are records for, I think the oldest relationship we have with the moon is through timekeeping ‪—‬ so for serving this practical use of letting us know how much time has passed and, crucially, helping us plan for future time, which is a pretty uniquely human characteristic as far as we know.

People developed calendars using the moon on every continent on Earth. We still use some of those today. The Hebrew calendar is still a lunar calendar; the Islamic calendar is still a lunar solar calendar. In Asia, it's still the primary timekeeping system, which is why we have the Lunar New Year in China.

Soon after that, we also used it as this sort of watchful deity. A personification of the moon is one of the oldest religious figures on Earth in all cultures that we've tracked back in time. And I think it's definitely changed since Apollo, in my opinion, since we walked up there and saw it was a real place, but I hope people still think about those old ways.

KHC: Why has the moon so often been both an object of science and a cultural symbol?

RB: It's the most obvious thing in the sky besides the sun. You might wonder, why is the moon the same size in the sky? Why is it always there too, and why does it provide so much illumination? So, it's an irrefutably important thing.

Once we learned other planets had moons, [we were] also wondering why they're different and what makes ours unique, and why it's so important to Earth and what it can tell us about Earth.

KHC: How did the Apollo era shape how we view the moon compared with previous generations?

RB: I think it made it real for the first time in a way that it's hard for us to recognize now, 50-plus years on. And I think it was a really transformative moment for the moon and our understanding of the moon ‪—‬ the fact that we actually made it up there and brought pieces of it home. We learned so much about the moon's composition and how it's different than we expected, and it tells us all these stories about the history of Earth. I think that's an ongoing story.

KHC: How do you think the Artemis II mission will change how we look at the moon?

RB: It's sort of this generation's moment to understand in a new way the connection between the moon and this planet and sort of reframe its importance to human history. It's the only moon like it that we've ever found. It's a huge object, [and] it's really far away. And that combination of facts plays a really important role in the climate of Earth, the geologic history of Earth, and the history of life.

I think there's a very solid argument that we wouldn't be here without it. The moons of Mars have nothing to do with Mars; they're just sort of there, like potatoes that just fly around Mars … whereas our moon is like a companion world, and I don't think people think of it that way ‪—‬ and I think Artemis is a chance for people to reframe that relationship.

KHC: From a cultural standpoint, what does it mean that we're going back to the moon and talking about future lunar missions and even a moon base?

RB: One thing that's been on my mind a lot this week is that we take space for granted, [and] we take NASA for granted. This mission this week is evidence that the work happens on such long timescales with incredibly dedicated, intelligent people who really care, and they deserve our admiration, our respect, our taxpayer dollars … and our moral support.

I think just getting off Earth in that rocket is such an achievement that I think people take it for granted. And I hope this is like a wake-up call ‪—‬ these missions that all of a sudden crop up in the national consciousness have actually been building for years and decades. I think whatever reasons people have for paying attention to Artemis, I hope that they're realizing at the same time what it takes to do this.

Editor's note: This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.

Test your lunar knowledge with our moon quiz!

Freelance space writer Roger Guillemette has witnessed close to 100 rocket launches since 1975. On Wednesday (April 1), he was on the ground at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, reporting live on the Artemis II moon launch for Live Science. Here's what he saw at the historic liftoff:

There was palpable excitement at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) press site for the Artemis II launch, unlike anything I've experienced in my many years of reporting on human spaceflight from this iconic location.

Journalists from all over the world — both grizzled veterans and wide-eyed newcomers — were positively giddy about witnessing astronauts returning to the moon after so many decades.

Bright television lights glowed atop the news organization trailers along "media row" as the major networks assembled their A-teams to cover the landmark event. Morning and evening national newscasts originated from KSC, with the Vehicle Assembly Building's huge American flag and NASA "meatball" logo (first unveiled in 1959) serving as a dramatic backdrop. What was old suddenly felt new again.

Those of us on the older end of the age spectrum have fuzzy, fading memories of the Apollo era. For me, the historic Apollo 11 lunar landing mission in July 1969 filled the week of my 10th birthday; a few years later, in December 1972, a buddy and I "camped out" in his finished basement, watching color (!) television until after midnight to see Apollo 17 light up the heavens over Florida's Space Coast on what would be the final crewed voyage to the moon for 50 years and counting.

After those heady years of the "moon race," the closest experience to Artemis II for me was the first flight of the space shuttle Columbia, STS-1, in April 1981. As a college senior, I stood just a few hundred yards from the spot where I watched Artemis II, witnessing a brand-new, never-flown space plane soar skyward into the dawn. I remember watching Columbia leap off the launchpad while I softly whispered, "Go, go," with tears welling in my eyes. I found myself unconsciously doing the same for Artemis II (now with a few added colorful epithets).

Artemis II's launch was impossibly bright to witness in person. Still images or video simply do not capture the sheer brilliance and intensity of the Space Launch System's ignition and liftoff. Seeing the brilliant white-orange plume concentrate beneath the rocket was like looking at the sun itself, and it appeared much more dazzling than any space shuttle launch I ever witnessed. You don't simply watch the mighty rocket rise — you feel it, shaking the ground beneath you, its powerful, staccato thumping reverberating through your chest.

More than five decades after Apollo 17 astronauts Gene Cernan and Harrison "Jack" Schmitt reluctantly departed the spectacular rolling hills and massive boulders of the lunar valley known as Taurus-Littrow, the United States (with its international partners) is once again taking the bold steps to continue exploring the strange new world it abandoned generations ago.

The goal has always been in sight. On a clear winter night, it rides high in the heavens, bringing light to barren, snow-covered landscapes. On a cool autumn evening, it hangs impossibly large on the eastern horizon, casting a warm orange glow on farmers and stargazers alike — each witness sharing the feeling that they can almost reach up and touch it.

Almost.

The goal has never been out of sight. It beckons us all to stop and renew an old acquaintance: our neighbor, the moon.

Think you know about the moon? Test your smarts with our moon quiz!

The Artemis II mission astronauts have released their first video messages from space, giving the public a glimpse of deep-space travel roughly two days into their historic journey.

In the crew's first broadcast, the astronauts describe the stunning view outside Orion's windows.

"You can see the entire globe from pole to pole," NASA astronaut Reid Weisman said. "It was the most spectacular moment, and it paused all four of us in our tracks."

The other astronauts echoed Weisman's awe of the view. "Trust us; you look amazing," NASA astronaut Victor Glover said about Earth. "You look beautiful."

Along with Weisman, Glover, NASA astronaut Christina Koch and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen, the fifth "crewmember" to tag along on the mission is Rise, a small, white moon plushie. Designed by 8-year-old Lucas Ye, the moon-themed mascot was chosen from more than 2,600 entries and was inspired by the famous "Earthrise" image from Apollo 8. Once Orion reached weightlessness, Glover was seen playing with the floating plushie during the crew's early broadcast, using it as a traditional signal that the spacecraft was in zero gravity and a lighthearted way to stay active in space.

Koch also added humor to the broadcast by recounting her fix of the jammed $30 million Orion toilet. NASA representatives said the crew and mission control worked together to troubleshoot the problem and later reported that the spacecraft's toilet had been restored to normal operations.

"I'm proud to call myself the space plumber," Koch joked in the broadcast.

NASA's Artemis II mission successfully lifted off from Florida's Space Coast Wednesday (April 1) around 6:35 p.m. EDT. But today (Thursday) marked the mission's next crucial step: the translunar injection burn, the long push that sends the spacecraft out of Earth's orbit and into deep space, where it will rendezvous with the moon about four days from now.

"[The burn] propels Orion on a path toward the moon and sets it on the free-return trajectory that will ultimately bring [the] crew back to Earth for splashdown," NASA officials wrote in the Artemis II press kit. "Though only two days into the mission, it essentially doubles as Orion's deorbit burn as well."

The translunar injection burn is the last turning point for any moon mission. Because the astronauts are still in Earth's orbit, they have an easier chance to return home if the mission management team deems the mission unfit to proceed. After the spacecraft leaves Earth's gravity, there's no way back but to swing around the moon as planned.

Thankfully, NASA's mission management team found no issues and gave the green light for the burn. Scheduled for 7:49 p.m. EDT, the burn lasted 5 minutes and 50 seconds. According to NASA, the Orion spacecraft has "6,000 pounds of thrust, enough to accelerate a car from 0 to 60 mph in about 2.7 seconds."

"We personally felt the power of your perseverance through every second of that burn," Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen said after the completion of the burn.

With the burn now complete, Artemis II stopped circling Earth and began the mission it was built for: a 10-day test flight around the moon and back, meant to prove NASA can safely send astronauts into deep space again. The results of the mission will directly influence the planning of future missions in the Artemis campaign, which aims to return humans to the lunar surface no earlier than 2028.

"With this burn to the moon, we do not leave Earth. We choose it," Artemis astronaut Christina Koch said before the burn commenced.

The Artemis II crew is expected to reach the moon Monday, April 6, on the sixth day of the mission, and return to Earth Saturday, April 11, after a 10-day mission.

Test your knowledge of the moon below with our moon quiz!

On April 1, four astronauts blasted off on what will be a 10-day voyage around the moon and back. Their mission, the first to send humans to the moon since 1972, will test key systems for two lunar landings in 2028, which will, in turn, lay the foundation for a permanent base on the moon's surface.

The Artemis II crew — which consists of commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, and mission specialists Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen — are slingshotting around Earth before initiating a translunar injection burn to send them on a roughly 245,000-mile (394,000 kilometers) flight to lunar orbit.

Here's the launch of the historic mission in pictures.

Sunrise over moonshot

At 322 feet (98 meters) in height, the Artemis II rocket stack is taller than the Statue of Liberty and provides over 8.8 million pounds (4 million kilograms) of thrust to a capsule the size of a camper van.

Taking a seat

Artemis II's launch has been hotly anticipated, with NASA originally targeting a moon landing by 2024 back in 2019.

Still, given the numerous delays and setbacks suffered by Artemis II and its predecessor mission, setting up this early was an act of faith by many onlookers.

Onto the tarmac

To avoid health issues in space, it's standard protocol for astronauts to quarantine before a launch.

The Artemis II astronauts quarantined with their families and, just before exiting, played a card game — one of many prelaunch rituals intended to "use up" bad luck before heading out to the launchpad.

Locked and loaded

The astronauts experienced up to four times Earth's gravity during their ascent to orbit, accelerating to speeds of up to 10,000 mph (16,000 km/h).

Those speeds pale in comparison to those at reentry, in which the Artemis II astronauts will fall at slightly over 25,000 mph (40,000 km/h), becoming the fastest humans in history.

Liftoff

To reach orbit, the SLS rocket burns through more than 730,000 gallons (28,000 liters) of liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen in its core stage alone.

The core stage's four RS-25 engines consume propellant at a rate of 1,500 gallons (5,700 liters) per second during their eight minutes of operation. That's more than enough to drain an Olympic-size swimming pool in that time.

Live from Cape Canaveral

This image of the liftoff was taken by Roger Guillemette, Live Science's Artemis II launch correspondent, for our live Artemis II coverage.

Guillemette has witnessed close to 100 piloted spaceflight launches, from the July 1975 Saturn IB launch of the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project to the final launch of the Shuttle Atlantis on STS-135 in July 2011.

A screaming across the sky

The SLS rocket produced a thunderous noise measuring 176 decibels during liftoff ‪—‬ loud enough to cause serious eardrum damage and to be heard up to 30 miles (50 km) away.

As the world watched

Up to 400,000 people watched the rocket take off from along Florida's Space Coast, with tens of millions simultaneously watching online, according to early viewing estimates.

Rocketing skyward

It took around seven seconds for the SLS rocket to clear the launch tower after its two solid-fuel boosters ignited for liftoff. The rocket broke the sound barrier just under a minute into the flight.

Onward to the moon

Upon entering space, the Orion capsule detatched from the rocket's core stage.

The crew will now swing around Earth, performing a gravitational slingshot maneuver to pick up speed.

This will be followed by a translunar injection burn that puts the crew on their final trajectory toward the moon.

The Artemis II crew has blasted off for the moon on a historic rocket launch at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, mission specialist Christina Koch and mission specialist Jeremy Hansen are now riding high in the Orion spacecraft as the first humans to head back to the moon in more than 50 years.

The rocket lifted off at 6:35 p.m. EDT on April 1 — one of the final launch windows available to meet NASA’s April 30 mission deadline.

Artemis II has been fraught with delays in recent months, but on April Fool's Day, NASA's gigantic Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion capsule took off without any significant issues. Hundreds of thousands of people flocked to Florida's Space Coast to watch the launch in person, while millions more tuned in around the world to watch NASA's live broadcast.

A record-setting mission

The Artemis II crew is now embarking on a 10-day spaceflight, which will take them around the far side of the moon, travelling farther and faster than any humans in history, before they return home to Earth.

The record-breaking mission is set to establish a number of historic firsts. NASA's Koch is on her way to becoming the first woman in history to go beyond low Earth orbit and the first woman to visit the lunar environment, while NASA's Glover is on his way to becoming the first Black astronaut to venture beyond low Earth orbit and visit the lunar environment.

Hansen, of the Canadian Space Agency, is on his way to becoming the first non-American to visit the moon. Finally, Wiseman is on his way to becoming the oldest astronaut to visit the moon, having turned 50 in November.

In recent months, the Artemis II mission staff has grappled with hydrogen leaks, which were a problem during the first Artemis II fueling rehearsal on Feb. 3, and helium flow issues, which forced NASA to take its rocket back to the shop for urgent repairs a few weeks later. However, there were no such issues during today's tanking.

A smooth countdown

The launch team didn't encounter any significant technical issues while filling the SLS with more than 700,000 gallons of super-cold liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen, and the countdown proceeded smoothly and on schedule.

The crew walked out at about 2 p.m. EDT, suiting up at Launch Complex 39B, before entering the Orion spacecraft at 2:31 p.m.

Artemis II's launch team did have to work through an unusual range issue. NASA clears an airspace launch corridor along the rocket's flight path, but part of this system, specifically the Flight Termination System (FTS) that sends a destruct signal to a rocket if it goes off course, had some kind of problem.

Engineers ended up fetching "a piece of heritage equipment" that was used during the Space Shuttle Program, and ultimately worked through the issue to clear the range and work the FTS system.

Clouds and rain showers hovered over the Kennedy Space Center at times, but these didn't disrupt the launch, and wind speeds remained within acceptable levels.

The launch is only the beginning of NASA's historic flight around the moon, which is all about testing systems and building capacity ahead of planned lunar surface missions in 2028 at the earliest. Sending astronauts into space also gives NASA a rare opportunity to study how deep spaceflight affects the human body.

NASA will provide live, real-time coverage of the mission on its YouTube channel as well as live conversations with the astronauts and daily mission briefings.

Live Science will share key information from NASA's coverage on our dedicated Artemis II live blog.

Artemis II's astronauts are about to take off for a record-breaking flight around the moon, giving NASA a rare opportunity to study how deep spaceflight affects the human body.

After leaving Earth's protective magnetic field, the four-person crew will be more exposed to space weather — which includes high-energy eruptions of radiation from the sun, known as solar flares.

But just how much damage can space weather cause the human body? And could the sun's recent peak in activity produce a superflare that should, according to one scientist, see the mission delayed by several more months?

Live Science spoke with Patricia Reiff, a professor of physics and astronomy at Rice University in Houston, Texas, to discuss space weather and how it could impact the Artemis II mission.

Reiff has more than fifty years of experience studying space plasma physics and received her doctorate analyzing data from NASA's first trips to the moon during the Apollo era. Here's what she said about the radiation risks Artemis II's crew will be exposed to during their historic return to the moon.

Patrick Pester: What is space weather, and how can it affect astronaut health?

Patricia Reiff: Space weather comes in several flavors. A solar flare can emit very energetic particles that come at nearly the speed of light, and those are ones that can harm astronauts on their way to the moon because they're so energetic that they can penetrate the hulls of spacecraft.

The longer-term forms of space weather are the result of a coronal mass ejection (CME). When that hits the Earth, it can create beautiful auroras. A CME can affect power transmission lines, but it won't affect the astronauts in space because it's low energy and it's not directly harmful.

PP: Of the sources of radiation that the astronauts are exposed to, which ones are the most dangerous?

PR: There are two forms of radiation that affect astronauts who are outside of Earth's orbit. One is the solar energetic particles. These are the ones that come as a result of solar flares. They can be very intense, but they're generally relatively short-lived. When a storm like that occurs, the astronauts know where to go in the capsule that offers the most protection.

The other form of radiation that is a danger to astronauts in deep space is the galactic cosmic rays. Those are much more energetic, but there are a lot fewer of them, and they're a constant background. It's kind of like taking a chest X-Ray every day. You don't want to do it for too long. Those are very difficult to shield against because they are so energetic that when they hit the spacecraft, they just create [secondary rays] that can be almost as bad as the primaries.

One of the nice things about solar maximum, which is what we are in now, is that the solar wind is stronger, and it helps keep those galactic cosmic rays from coming into the inner solar system. So, if I were going to do a long-term mission to the moon or to Mars, I would definitely go at solar maximum rather than solar minimum.

PP: That's interesting because you'd think it would be the opposite with the sun being more active.

PR: The sun helps clear out our neck of the woods when the solar wind is strong, but you do have to worry about these individual events from solar flares. And you don't get a lot of warning because they're coming at the speed of light. When we see it on the sun, it's here. On the other hand, they only last a few hours, so even if you don't get a lot of advance warning, you can still protect yourself by hiding in a good, solid place.

One of the things they did for Artemis I was to put sensors in the various parts of the Orion spacecraft to find where the safest places were. The very first paper I ever published, back when I was working on Apollo, was the solar flare that occurred in August of 1972. That one was so intense that if any astronaut had been either in the command module or the lunar module, they would have had a nearly lethal dose. [Fortunately, no astronauts were in space at the time.] So, it is something we have to take care of, and the nice thing about the Orion spacecraft is it's much better shielded than the original Apollo spacecraft were.

PP: A recent study found that the likelihood of superflares is greater during solar maximum, with the lead author recommending that NASA delay Artemis II until the end of the year. Are they right or wrong?

PR: The sun has an 11-year cycle, and generally speaking, the biggest flares occur at the highest sunspot number. But not every sunspot cycle is the same. The sunspot cycle we are in now is stronger than the one we had 11 years ago, but it is less strong than others. So, I don't necessarily see a particular additional risk of a superflare now than we would have had 20 years ago.

That said, it's still possible. That's why we keep our eyes on the sun. We see those sunspot groups and look at the magnetic field structure on the sun. When that magnetic field structure gets very tangled up, very torsioned, energy is building up in the magnetic field, kind of like winding up a rubber band on a paper airplane. And when a solar flare comes, that energy gets released. That's the energy that powers the big solar flares.

PP: One of Artemis II's mission goals is to study the impact of space radiation on astronaut health. How do we do that?

PR: Every astronaut keeps a monitor on their person to measure how much radiation they have absorbed. And there's both an annual maximum and a lifetime maximum. So, if an astronaut receives their lifetime maximum dose of radiation, then they're done; they retire from going into space. Interestingly, the maximum allowable lifetime dose for an astronaut is higher than the maximum allowable lifetime dose for an airplane pilot because it's by its very nature a much more dangerous job, and it's a risk that they sign up for.

Editor's note: This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

It's happening! Artemis II, NASA's first crewed moon mission in more than 50 years, Is all set for launch as early as 6:24 p.m. today (April 1).

NASA hopes its gigantic Space Launch System (SLS) rocket will launch the Orion capsule containing its four-person crew during a two-hour window that opens at 6:24 p.m. EDT today. If all goes well, Artemis II will take humans farther into space than ever before during a 10-day flight around the moon.

Live Science has launched (pun intended) an Artemis II live blog to keep you up to date on this historic event, where we will provide moment-by-moment coverage of the launch. You'll also be able to watch NASA's feed of the launch on that page.

NASA will stream the launch live from Kennedy Space Center in Florida, broadcasting it via the space agency's official accounts on YouTube, X, Facebook, and Twitch. The live coverage will also be available on NASA's free streaming service, NASA+, as well as a variety of third-party streaming services, including Netflix and Amazon Prime.

NASA's live stream is scheduled to begin at 12:50 p.m. EDT. We can't say exactly what time the launch will be, but if it goes ahead today, then expect the rocket to take off sometime between 6:24 p.m. and 8:24 p.m.

This will be an easy live event to watch, given that NASA is streaming it for free across a variety of platforms. You don't have to create an account, pay a subscription or suffer through ads to watch it live.

Although NASA is targeting today, there's no guarantee that Artemis II will launch then. Spaceflight is a delicate process even in the best of times, and the Artemis program has been fraught with delays.

The April launch windows for Artemis II run from Wednesday to Monday (April 1-6), so there is the potential to launch any of those days, along with another opportunity on April 30. As of Tuesday afternoon, Wednesday is looking good, with NASA citing an 80% chance of favorable weather conditions.

NASA will begin its coverage with a live feed and commentary of its tanking operations, which kicks off on NASA's YouTube channel at 7:45 a.m. EDT. Note that this is prior to the main broadcast of the launch, which begins at 12:50 p.m. EDT.

NASA will hold a postlaunch news conference about two hours after the launch, assuming it goes ahead, and it will be available on the space agency's official channels.

The launch is only the beginning of NASA's planned coverage for the historic flight around the moon. NASA will provide live, real-time coverage of the mission on its YouTube channel, as well as live conversations with the astronauts and daily mission briefings.

Live Science will share key information from NASA's coverage on our dedicated Artemis II live blog.

NASA's Artemis II mission remains on track for its planned April 1 launch, the space agency announced in a prelaunch news conference Tuesday (March 31).

At the news event, held at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, NASA managers emphasized that both the vehicle and team are ready to fly, with current conditions not pointing to any major last-minute technical concerns. The briefing also broke down the two biggest possible spoilers of tomorrow's launch :the weather on the ground and in space.

Yesterday (March 30), the sun produced a X1.4-class solar flare tied to a coronal mass ejection, prompting NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center to issue a G2 geomagnetic storm watch for March 31 and G1 watches for April 1 (the planned launch date) and April 2. Events like solar flares can interfere with radio communications, navigation systems and spacecraft operations, as well as expose astronauts to harmful radiation.

However, Mark Berger, NASA's Launch Weather Officer for the Artemis II mission, highlighted that the flare is not currently expected to affect the launch. Artemis launch criteria is designed to avoid liftoff during severe solar conditions, but based on the latest outlook, this flare appears to be something NASA is monitoring rather than something that is stalling the launch.

"There is nothing here screaming 'no go' for any of these attempts," Berger said at the prelaunch conference.

That leaves Earth's weather as the more pressing concern. NASA's latest forecast heading into launch day called for an 80% chance of favorable weather, with high ground winds as the main issue. Berger mentioned that some precipitation could occur on launch day, but shouldn't be an issue.

"It looks pretty good," Berger added.

The prelaunch news conference also invited some lighthearted curiosity about whether anyone might try to sneak an April Fool's joke into the countdown. NASA did not indicate at the conference that it was aware of any jokes or stunts in the works, but the agency hardly lacks a history of mischief. As one example, NASA astronaut Owen Garriott performed a legendary prank on Mission Control while at Skylab, where he played a prerecorded conversation that sounded like his wife Helen had stowed away onboard. In another prank, NASA astronaut John Young smuggled a corn beef sandwich aboard Gemini III.

For Artemis II though, the tone coming out of the conference was more focused on the launch ahead as NASA attempts to return to the moon.

"Everybody understands the significance of this mission," Jeff Spaulding, senior test director for the Artemis II program at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, said in the briefing. "There's a lot of excitement and fervor with all of the [NASA] groups out there, but especially here at Kennedy."

Test your knowledge of previous astronauts that have gone to the moon with our moon landing quiz!

After years of frustrating delays, NASA's Artemis II mission is about to launch astronauts to the lunar environment for the first time since the Apollo 17 mission in 1972, taking the next big step toward the agency's ambitious goal of building humanity's first moon base.

Artemis II's record-breaking crew — which includes commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover and mission specialists Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen — is scheduled to lift off from Launch Pad 39B at Kennedy Space Center in Florida as soon as April 1. They will ride into space aboard NASA's mega Space Launch System (SLS) rocket before slingshotting around the moon in the Orion capsule and eventually returning home around 10 days later.

But exactly what will happen during and after launch? And what will the astronauts be up to during their historic trip?

We've broken down the mission timeline into 12 key steps so you can better understand and follow along with this lunar adventure.

1. Liftoff and initial separations

The official launch sequence for Artemis II will begin roughly 49 hours before liftoff, when mission controllers arrive at Kennedy Space Center to start carrying out a multitude of safety and engineering checks, according to a NASA fact sheet.

But the fun really starts around three hours before launch, when the astronauts will be strapped in and sealed into the Orion spacecraft at the top of the 322-foot-tall (98 meters) SLS rocket. After a nervous wait, as they sit atop more than 700,000 gallons (2.65 million liters) of cryogenic fuel, the rocket's four main engines will start firing seven seconds before liftoff, as millions of people around the world collectively chant the final countdown.

It will take approximately 6.5 seconds for the giant rocket to clear the launch tower after the two solid-fuel boosters ignite at liftoff (also known as T-0). From there, the crew will rise rapidly through the skies, with each member experiencing up to 4 G's of force as they fight to escape our planet's gravity. They are expected to break the sound barrier after 56 seconds of vertical flight (T+0:56).

Just over a minute later (T+2:08), at an elevation of around 30 miles (48 kilometers), the rocket's empty boosters will be ejected. Several other nonessential components, including the launch abort system, will also be tossed away. This reduces the overall weight of the spacecraft and allows the rocket's main engines to propel it the rest of the way. (The ejected components will likely fall back to Earth somewhere in the Atlantic Ocean.)

2. Main engine cutoff

Approximately 6 minutes later (T+8:06), the rocket's main engines will also run out of fuel, before swiftly detaching and either burning up in the atmosphere or falling into the Pacific Ocean.

At this point, the astronauts and what remains of the rocket will be stuck in a fast and highly elliptical orbit with an apogee, or highest elevation, of 1,400 miles (2,250 km) — more than five times farther from Earth than the International Space Station.

The crew will rapidly and unevenly circle Earth for the next 40 minutes, while Koch and Hansen unstrap from their seats and carry out a series of tasks, including setting up the toilet, water dispenser and other basic equipment. At this point, the spacecraft's solar arrays will deploy to help power the onboard systems.

This stage could prove to be a problem for Hansen, who is the only member of the crew who has not been to space before. Around half of first-time astronauts experience space adaptation syndrome, a form of extreme motion sickness. "I'm definitely worried about that," Hansen previously told Ars Technica. If he is affected, he will have to be "very intentional" with his movements and "try to minimize" what he does, he added.

3. Perigee raise maneuver

Once Koch and Hansen have completed their tasks (around T+49), they will strap back in for the first orbital maneuver, which will raise the spacecraft's perigee, or lowest elevation, to match its apogee. (If this didn't happen, the spacecraft would start to fall back to Earth.)

This first "burn" will be carried out using the rocket's second stage, dubbed the Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage (ICPS), and will last a minute or two. Wiseman and Glover will be monitoring the burn as they did during launch, but all of the major maneuvers will be fully automated.

Once this step is completed, the spacecraft will be in a relatively stable orbit around Earth, which will allow the team to take a short break before attempting to make the next steps away from our planet.

4. Apogee raise burn

Around an hour later (T+1:47:57), the spacecraft will carry out a second, longer burn with the ICPS to significantly raise its orbit.

This automated burn will last around 15 minutes. Once this step is completed, the crew will be stuck in a "high Earth orbit" with an apogee of 43,500 miles (70,000 km). At this max altitude, it will take them around 23.5 hours to orbit the planet. This orbit is also where Orion will eventually deploy four small research satellites, called cubesats, belonging to Argentina, South Korea, Germany and Saudi Arabia, according to a NASA statement.

At this point, the astronauts will pause their journey from Earth and prepare to carry out the final steps necessary for their "moonshot."

5. Second-stage separation and "prox ops"

After the second burn, the ICPS will be mostly depleted and will separate from the rest of the rocket ‪—‬ but it won't go very far.

At this point (T+3:24:15), Glover will take control of the Orion capsule, dubbed "Integrity" by the Artemis II crew, and begin proximity operations, or "prox ops." During this phase, which will last just over an hour, Glover will use a joystick to carry out various spaceflight tests around ICPS, using the spent engine as a proxy target that the craft must maneuver around, according to a NASA video.

This is an important step because the Orion spacecraft has never been piloted by humans in space before and needs to be properly tested for future missions, such as Artemis III and Artemis IV. Once prox ops is complete, the ICPS will carry out a final burn that will send it back to Earth to either burn up upon reentry or crash into the ocean, according to NASA.

At this point, the astronauts will exercise and eat their first meal in space, before sleeping for around four hours, according to Ars Technica. They will then be woken to oversee a series of trajectory-correction burns, to make sure they remain in a stable orbit, before going back to sleep for another four hours or so. When they wake again, they will find out if they can proceed with the mission or if they have to return to Earth.

6. Translunar injection

Once the team has the green light to proceed, the next step, dubbed the translunar injection, will be to fire the main engines of the European Service Module — a propulsion system developed by the European Space Agency and affixed to Integrity. (This module also helps provide other vital systems, like air, water and heating, and holds the solar arrays that power the Orion capsule.)

This final big burn will begin around 25.5 hours into the mission, when the spacecraft reaches perigee, the lowest point in its high-altitude orbit. At perigee, Earth's gravity will give the capsule the final kick it needs to fully escape our planet. If the crew is not ready to proceed, they can wait another 23.5 hours for a second chance to pull off the maneuver.

Once the burn has finished, the astronauts will be locked into their final "free-return trajectory," in which they will sail around the moon and back to Earth without any more major maneuvers. This will be the first time astronauts have completed this type of trajectory since the Apollo 13 mission in 1970, when astronauts were famously forced to abandon a lunar landing following an explosion on board their spacecraft.

From this point on, the spacecraft will return to Earth, barring any major system failures, according to Live Science's sister site Space.com.

7. Outbound flight to the moon

For the next four days, the astronauts will drift toward the moon. They may have to carry out a few subtle trajectory-altering burns, but for the most part, they will just be along for the ride.

During this time, the astronauts will eat, sleep and complete a number of exercises, including zero-gravity CPR and a "rapid spacesuits donning and pressurization demonstration," according to NASA. They will also likely conduct media interviews from the capsule en route to the moon.

All of this work will be done in the cozy confines of Integrity, which has an interior volume of around 330 cubic feet (9.3 cubic meters) — around the same size as two minivans.

8. Lunar flyby

When the Artemis II crew finally reaches the moon, around the start of the sixth day of the mission, they will not have long to enjoy the lunar environment; their slingshot will take only a couple of hours.

For 30 to 50 minutes, the astronauts will go radio silent as the Orion capsule passes behind the far side of the moon. During this time, they will reach a maximum distance of 250,000 miles (400,000 km) from Earth, which will be the farthest humans have ever ventured from our planet — breaking the record set by the Apollo 13 astronauts.

One of the key tasks the team will carry out during the flyby is testing the Orion Artemis II Optical Communications System, which uses lasers to send and receive messages from Earth and will serve as the basis for future communication relays at NASA's planned moon base.

They will also capture images of the moon's far side, which are sure to be spectacular thanks to the team's recent photography training. To the Artemis II astronauts, the moon will likely appear around the same size as a basketball outside the capsule's windows, according to NASA.

9. Return journey to Earth

After completing their lunar flyby, the astronauts will sail back to Earth, which will take roughly the same time as the outbound journey and will be spent largely doing the same sort of things.

However, the seventh flight day, just after their lunar slingshot, "will primarily be off-duty time for the crew," according to the NASA fact sheet.

Throughout the mission, the crew will conduct a number of experiments on themselves to test how the mission affects things like their sleep quality and stress levels, as well as monitor their blood, urine and saliva. The team is also carrying mini "avatars" of themselves — blood samples grown to simulate bone marrow on organ-on-a-chip devices — that will test how radiation and microgravity affect human health on a cellular level, Space.com previously reported.

10. Crew module separation

As the astronauts approach Earth's atmosphere, the Orion capsule, which doubles as the crew's return module, will separate from the European Service Module around 20 minutes before reentry.

This will be followed by a final burn that slightly raises Ingenuity's altitude, slowing the capsule and providing the optimal angle of reentry that will lessen the immense strain on the spacecraft.

The European Service Module will reenter the atmosphere shortly before Ingenuity and will likely break apart due to its high speed, according to NASA.

11. Earth reentry

The estimated reentry speed for Integrity is just over 25,000 mph (40,000 km/h), which would be a record for a crewed reentry and the fastest any human has ever traveled.

At this velocity, the capsule's exterior could reach temperatures of up to 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit (1,650 degrees Celsius). Some experts have questioned whether Orion's heat shields can withstand this intensity, but NASA is confident that it will not be an issue.

The entire reentry process will take around 10 minutes, and the crew will be out of radio contact for several minutes during the crux of reentry, when the capsule is engulfed in superhot plasma.

12. Splashdown

Once the capsule has reentered the atmosphere, it will rapidly free-fall toward Earth's surface.

At 25,000 feet (7,600 m), two "drogue parachutes" — each 23 feet (7 m) in diameter — will unfurl and slow the capsule to around 307 mph (494 km/h). Then, at around 9,500 feet (2,900 m), the capsule's three main, 116-foot-wide (35 m) parachutes will be deployed, slowing the capsule to just 17 mph (27 km/h) for a safe splashdown somewhere in the Pacific Ocean, according to NASA.

The capsule may land upright, on its side or upside down. However, five large airbags will quickly inflate around the top of the pod, ensuring that it ends up right side up. The exhausted astronauts will then wait for U.S. Navy vessels to collect them, thereby concluding Artemis II.

Here's everything you need to know about the Artemis II mission so far:

• Artemis II has lifted off from Launch Complex 39B at Kennedy Space Center on April 1, 2026.
• The launch went with barely a hitch, with only minor battery and range problems briefly vexing ground crews.
• The Artemis II crew are now slingshotting around Earth in preparation for a translunar flight.
• "We go for all of humanity," commander Reid Wiseman said after receiving launch clearance.

To the moon and back

Good morning, science fans. For the first time since 1972, the countdown clock at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida is now running down the hours, minutes and seconds until the liftoff of a crewed mission beyond low Earth orbit.

With a little more than a day remaining until NASA's Artemis II launch, the mission's four-astronaut crew said they're ready for their 685,000-mile (1.1 million kilometers) 10-day journey around the moon and back. They will be sent into space by a colossal, 322-foot-tall (98 meters) rocket stack — taller than the Statue of Liberty — which will provide over 8.8 million pounds (4 million kilograms) of thrust to a capsule the size of a campervan.

Live Science will be following every moment of this journey, providing you with updates, commentary, expert insight and exclusive coverage from the historic launch.

So let's strap in, quit mooning around, and get ready for humanity's return to our celestial neighbor.

A record-breaking return

It took a while to get here, but after repeated delays, NASA says the Artemis II mission is finally ready to launch. Besides being NASA's first step to a long-awaited return to the moon's surface, the mission is set to achieve a number of firsts: Its crew contains the first Black astronaut, the first woman, and the first non-American to visit the moon.

The crew will smash several longstanding records too. For example, they will return to Earth as the fastest humans in history, splashing down in the Pacific Ocean after reentering our planet's atmosphere at slightly over 25,000 mph (40,200 km/h), which would beat the 1969 reentry record currently held by the Apollo 10 astronauts.

And that's not all that's new or record-breaking about this flight. For more details, senior staff writer Harry Baker has the full story here.

The mission timeline

Hello, fellow Artemis enthusiasts! Senior staff writer Harry Baker here to tell you a little bit about the timeline for NASA's historic return trip to the moon (and back).

As soon as operators gave the green light for launch, the Artemis II mission officially began, and the launch team is already hard at work completing the long list of initial preflight checks. The quarantined astronauts are also making their final preparations before heading to the launch pad at Florida's Kennedy Space Center tomorrow (April 1).

We've broken down the 10-day mission into 12 key steps, covering everything from liftoff and low Earth orbit maneuvers to the lunar slingshot, record-breaking reentry to Earth's atmosphere and eventual splashdown in the Pacific Ocean.

My personal favorite stage is "prox opps." This comes around 3.5 hours after launch and will see Artemis II's pilot Victor Glover briefly take control of the Orion spacecraft to test out its manual thrusters and maneuverability, providing crucial data for the upcoming Artemis III and Artemis IV missions.

You can read my full story here.

And be sure to bookmark this page so you can come back to it at any point over the next few weeks!

So why return to the moon, anyway?

This is the first time in more than 50 years that NASA is sending humans to the moon, having famously taken 12 astronauts to the lunar surface as part of the Apollo missions that ran between 1969 and 1972.

But that doesn't mean redoing something it achieved decades ago is straightforward. Space travel is a difficult endeavour that comes with substantial risks, and the moon remains a hard target even in 2026.

So why bother going back?

Artemis II is scheduled as a lunar flyby, so the astronauts aboard the Orion spacecraft won't actually land on the lunar surface. However, if this 10-day flight around the moon and back to Earth is successful, then NASA will have tested systems ahead of the Artemis IV and Artemis V lunar surface mission planned for 2028, when NASA wants boots on the moon.

NASA aims to establish a sustained presence on the lunar surface and pave the way for future missions to Mars. That means Artemis II may end up being a key step on the road to humanity colonizing another planet.

Want to know more? You can read my analysis story here.

When were Americans last on the moon?

The last person to step foot on the moon was Gene Cernan, the commander of NASA's Apollo 17 mission. Cernan, the last of 12 humans to walk on the moon, left humanity's final bootprint on the lunar surface on December 14, 1972.

And while Artemis II does mark NASA's return to the moon, the mission more closely takes after Dec. 21, 1968's Apollo 8 mission, which sent three NASA astronauts on a six-day trip around the moon. Much like Artemis II, Apollo 8 was a key step in testing flight systems and trajectories before attempting a lunar landing.

Who else walked on the moon?

I gave you Gene Cernan's name as a freebie, but do you know who else walked on the moon's surface? Take the quiz to see how many you know.

Meet the Artemis II crew

But that's enough about the astronauts of yore, here's what you should know about Artemis II's crew:

NASA's Reid Wiseman, the mission's commander, hails from Baltimore and is a former U.S. Navy fighter pilot and test pilot. His last trip to space was in 2014 on a Russian Soyuz rocket to the International Space Station (ISS). He spent 165 days aboard the ISS, where he became famous for his space photography.

NASA's Victor Glover, the mission's pilot, a California-native and former U.S. Navy captain, he has worked both as a test pilot and has flown combat missions in aircraft that include the F/A-18 Hornet.

Glover is the first Black astronaut to be assigned to a lunar mission. Glover caused a stir in 2023 when he revealed that he listened to Gil Scott-Heron's spoken-word poem "Whitey on the Moon" every Monday on his way to work.

"It's funny, because that Space Symposium caused me a lot of grief in the next months because people tried to quote me out of context," Glover told Space.com, Live Science's sister site. "And it ain't about racism. It's about the human condition."

NASA's Christina Koch, Artemis II's mission specialist, comes from Grand Rapids, Michigan. She holds several NASA records, including the longest single spaceflight by a woman (328 days). She also took part in the first all-female spacewalk with fellow astronaut Jessica Meir.

Koch's specialization is in designing and operating tools that can survive in extreme environments, and she has spent a winter season in Antarctica at the Amundsen-Scott South pole station.

The Canadian Space Agency's (CSA's) Jeremy Hansen, another mission specialist and former fighter pilot in the Royal Canadian Air Force, Hansen's seat on the mission is part of a partnership between the CSA and NASA.

This will be Hansen's first ever spaceflight, but he has played critical roles in mission control for previous missions.

Watch NASA's prelaunch coverage today at 1 pm EDT

Hi, space fans! Kenna Hughes-Castleberry, Live Science's content manager, here with an exciting prelaunch update.

As NASA prepares for the launch of Artemis II tomorrow, the agency has announced it will hold a prelaunch news conference at 1 p.m. EDT (5 p.m. GMT) today. You can watch it on NASA's YouTube channel.

The conference will run through the launch's timeline and any final preparations NASA will make before ignition. We'll be sure to keep you up to date on all the announcements as they're made.

Artemis II is scheduled to launch Wednesday, April 1, with a two-hour window starting at 6:24 p.m. EDT.

Watch live: Artemis II prelaunch news conference starts now

Hey there, science fans. Live Science's space and physics editor Brandon Specktor here.

With fewer than 30 hours to go before the Artemis II mission's planned launch window opens, NASA officials are hosting a prelaunch news conference to share some final status updates. Watch it live right now.

Cloudy with a chance of solar flares

The weather for tomorrow's launch continues to look favourable, says Mark Burger, NASA's launch weather officer, at the prelaunch conference.

Conditions will be moist and breezy, with some cumulus clouds and showers, but a low risk of lightning strikes near the launch site. The weather in space, meanwhile, remains active, as the sun slowly climbs down from its recent 11-year maximum.

An X-class solar flare did emerge from the sun yesterday, but most of its energy is currently directed away from the Earth.

Like watching a rocket stand still

You're probably watching the prelaunch conference right now. But if you're not interested, why not instead join the 36,000 people currently watching the Artemis II rocket stand idle on the launch pad?

If you like watching massive hunks of metal doing not a lot at a distance, it's a must-see.

Would you go to the moon?

Artemis II's crew are bound for a historic flight to the moon as soon as tomorrow — but would you swap places with them? Let us know in the poll below.

Post-prelaunch conference: All conditions look good

NASA's 1 pm EDT prelaunch conference highlighted two big things to watch for for tomorrow's big launch date: Earth weather and space weather. According to Launch Weather Officer Mark Berger, the recent solar flare shouldn't be a concern, nor should there be any issues with weather on Earth, though some rain is expected.

We have a full breakdown of the prelaunch conference here.

Who are the two backup crewmembers for Artemis II?

In the photo above, all six Artemis II crewmembers stand ready for action in Florida.

You read that right: Besides the Artemis II mission's primary four-person crew, NASA has picked two alternate crewmembers as backups. These two astronauts have participated in astronaut training along with the main crewmembers and will take part in the closeout activities before the launch. But who are they?

The first alternate is NASA astronaut Andre Douglas. Douglas served in the U.S. Coast Guard as a naval architect, damage control assistant, salvage engineer and deck officer. When Douglas was selected as an astronaut, he was working at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Lab, where he researched space exploration and planetary defense, including NASA's Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) mission. Douglas also helped develop various spacecraft equipment, including a gamma-ray and neutron detector, MEGANE, which will help study Mars' moons Phobos and Deimos.

As an alternate, Douglas runs through the same training for the upcoming Artemis II mission as its selected astronauts.

While Douglas studies engineering to ensure mechanical systems are working properly, the mission’s other backup crewmember, Jenni Gibbons of the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), looks at the exact opposite: how they explode. With a background in combustion science, Gibbons worked as an assistant professor at the University of Cambridge in 2016. In 2017, Gibbons was recruited by CSA as an astronaut candidate, graduated from astronaut training in 2020, and then led the Mission Control Capcom Console as International Space Station (ISS) lead capcom during Expedition 63 in 2020.

In the years that followed, Gibbons supported other space exploration endeavors, such as being a ground communicator for spacewalks that helped update the ISS' solar panels and mentoring the 2021 astronaut candidate class in their spacewalk training.

In 2023, CSA announced Gibbons as a backup member for astronaut Jeremy Hanson on the Artemis II mission.

Gibbons or Douglas will step in if, for any reason, one of the primary Artemis II crewmembers is unable to participate in the upcoming launch.

Full moonshot

If the Artemis II mission lifts off on schedule around 6:24 p.m. tomorrow, NASA's giant Space Launch System rocket will rise into the evening sky precisely as April's full moon starts to creep over the horizon.

April's full moon is nicknamed the Pink Moon, for obvious springtime reasons. It's this year's first full moon of spring in the Northern Hemisphere, and determines the start of the Passover and Easter holidays. The moon will also look bright and full on Monday (March 31) and Thursday (April 2).

You don't need any special skywatching equipment to enjoy the full moon, but grabbing a good backyard telescope or strong pair of binoculars could help you zoom in on lunar features that the Artemis II crew will soon see rushing toward them — including famous craters, and even Apollo landing sites.

Someday, the Artemis IV mission — planned to launch in 2028 and return humans to the moon's surface for the first time since 1972 — may become another lunar landmark that generations of skywatchers can attempt to spot from Earth. But for now, the Artemis II crew will only be passing by, shooting just past the moon and using its gravity to swing back toward Earth for the fastest reentry in history.

You can try to spot the moonbound capsule soar through our atmosphere several hours after launch, courtesy of the Virtual Telescope project's live stream.

What do astronauts do the night before a big launch?

It's common to be nervous before a big event. In the case of NASA's Artemis II mission, the stakes have never been higher as the agency attempts to return humans to the moon system for the first time in over 50 years.

So how do astronauts cope with the pressure of a big launch?

The night before a launch is usually far less glamorous than people imagine. Historically, astronauts have spent it doing last minute checks of their vital signs and getting themselves ready for the day ahead. For the Artemis II crew, their last night before the launch will be at the Kennedy beach house, a favorite spot for astronauts.

The beach house is located on Merritt Island, near Kennedy Space Center. Since being built in 1962, the beach house has been reserved for astronaut use; it became a quiet place where Apollo-era crews, and more recently ISS and SpaceX astronauts, have gathered with their families before launch day. The beach house's large balcony gives crewmembers a chance to decompress and be with loved ones while looking out onto the Atlantic Ocean.

Keeping with tradition, the Artemis II crew spent Tuesday (March 31) with their families, according to agency administrators. Tomorrow, they’ll head to the launch pad for their first shot at the moon.

Once in a pink moon

Welcome back, science fans. Are you ready to witness humanity fly to the moon for the first time in more than 50 years? Today is set to be the day. And no, this is not an April Fools' joke.

After months of delays, NASA's Artemis II rocket is ready to blast off on a 10-day slingshot trip around April's Pink Moon and back, testing key systems for later lunar landings that the agency hopes will enable them to establish a permanent base on our celestial neighbor's surface.

This lunar base, NASA claims, will soon become a stepping stone to Mars.

As NASA's launch team works through the thousands of highly choreographed steps to bring the Artemis rocket roaring to life, weather conditions surrounding the launchpad at Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, remain favorable.

NASA says its coverage of tanking operations will begin at 7:45 a.m. EST (11:45 a.m. GMT). If all goes to plan, Artemis II and its crew will finally lift off sometime between 6:24 p.m. to 8:24 p.m. EST (10:24 p.m. to 12:24 a.m. GMT).

If favorable weather conditions persist; there are no major solar flares to interfere with the rocket's electronics; and the spacecraft's tanks evade the leaks that scrubbed a previous launch attempt in February, we will witness a historic launch.

Stick with Live Science for moment-by-moment updates, commentary, expert insight and exclusive coverage from the historic launch.

How to watch the launch

Morning, science fans! We've just published a launch watch guide that tells you where you can tune in to see Artemis II (hopefully) take off later today.

NASA is streaming the launch for free across lots of different platforms, so it will be very easy to find. Of course, you really should just stick around here. We'll have a feed on the live blog, as well as moment-by-moment coverage of the launch

NASA's launch coverage is scheduled to begin at 12:50 p.m. EDT on YouTube, X, Facebook and Twitch. The live coverage will also be available on NASA's free streaming service, NASA+, as well as a variety of third-party streaming services, including Netflix and Amazon Prime.

We can't say exactly what time the launch will be, but if it goes ahead, then expect the rocket to take off sometime between 6:24 p.m. and 8:24 p.m EDT.

"It's a stepping stone for going to Mars"

Jim Gavio, director of the Yahn Planetarium at Penn State Behrend, has given a preview of what we can expect to see from the Artemis II mission, highlighting that if all goes to plan, NASA's flight controllers will begin to look beyond the moon.

"It's a stepping stone for going to Mars," Gavio said in a statement released yesterday by Penn State (The Pennsylvania State University). "What we learn from going to our relatively close neighbor — the moon — we will use to actually get us to Mars someday."

The Artemis program is meant to advance technologies and develop infrastructure that will be necessary for sending astronauts to Mars in the future. Establishing NASA's recently announced $20 billion moon base could be a key part of this.

But let's not get too far ahead of ourselves — NASA needs to show that it's still capable of travelling to the moon first.

Why launch windows matter

NASA has a tight window for Artemis II to lift off this month, with the potential for a launch running from today through to Monday (April 1 to 6), and another brief launch window opening on April 30.

But why can't they fly to the moon anytime they like?

Well, launch windows are a bit like waiting for the stars to align. Or, in this case, the Earth and the moon. NASA plans launches for when the moon is as close as possible (at perigee) to Earth during its 28-day cycle.

That gives them the best target for what follows: a cislunar downtown shot that whips the Orion capsule around Earth to send it precisely where the moon will be in six days time.

Precision being the key word here: Orion will travel around 245,000 miles (394,000 kilometers) or the equivalent of ten trips around Earth's equator before it arrives at the moon. Flight dynamics officers have calculated the launch and Earth's gravity assist such that Orion flies a few thousand miles above the moon's surface, slingshotting around it and (with the help of a well-timed translunar burn) returning safely home.

For a more granular look on the mission's timeline, you can check out the full story here.

The weather stays favorable

"So far so good" writes spaceweather.com in its latest update of conditions both at Florida and above its skies.

We were waiting for an overdue coronal mass ejection (CME) launched by an X-class solar flare on March 30th to hit Earth, but the longer we do, the less likely it is to produce a serious geomagnetic storm.

If the storm does arrive, The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has forecast it will have a moderate G1 to G2 strength, meaning it won't be strong enough to interfere with the Artemis II mission's electronics.

Moon quiz

You're reading our live coverage to learn more about NASA's historic return to the moon. But as we wait, it's now my turn to topsy-turvy the situation: What do you already know about our lunar neighbor?

Take the quiz to find out.

Artemis at no risk from exploded satellite

Good weather — check. No solar flares or coronal mass ejections — check. No debris from one of the more than 10,000 Starlink satellites in orbit — errrrrr.

On Sunday (March 29) and for the second time since December of last year, SpaceX lost contact with a Starlink satellite that suffered an "anomaly" that caused it to shatter into multiple fragments while in orbit.

The mishap is the latest event to litter Earth's skies with yet more space junk.

Thankfully, however, SpaceX has said it will not impact today's launch.

"Latest analysis shows the event poses no new risk to the @Space_Station, its crew, or to the upcoming launch of NASA’s Artemis II mission," SpaceX representatives wrote on X on Monday (March 31). "We will continue to monitor the satellite along with any trackable debris and coordinate with @NASA and the @USSpaceForce."

And we're live

NASA's mission live stream is now rolling, folks. Follow along there, and of course here, for all your essential updates on the tanking of the Space Launch System, the buildup to launch, and, of course, the launch itself.

Official "go" for tanking

Charlie Blackwell-Thompson, the Artemis Launch Director, gave the official "go" for tanking at 7:33 a.m. EDT. That means NASA's staff is ready to start loading the SLS rocket's propellants.

A reminder that today's launch window doesn't open until 6:24 p.m. EDT.

Chilldown

NASA is currently in the chilldown phase of the tanking process.

The mission team is using liquid hydrogen to cool the rocket's fuel lines and engines down to cryogenic temperatures. This process is necessary to condition them for the super-cold fuel and prevent thermal shocks.

"Favorable and acceptable weather"

I'm watching NASA's Artemis II live mission coverage for updates.

Antonia Jaramillo, of NASA communications, tells us that it's a "gorgeous and bright" day on the Space Coast of Florida.

Jaramillo notes that there are some clouds, but they don't seem to be a threat. The Artemis launch weather officer told the launch team that they have "favorable and acceptable weather" for today's countdown, according to Jaramillo.

Things are looking good!

Never been one for appetizers

If you're unable to watch NASA's live tanking coverage like I am, then you're really not missing much.

It's mostly just a static feed of the rocket on the launchpad with occasional updates from NASA's communications team.

This is very much the appetizer before the main course of NASA's launch coverage, which is scheduled to begin at 12:50 p.m. EDT.

Why won't Artemis II land on the moon?

While we're waiting, wanna know why this mission is just a lunar flyby?

Artemis II's four-person crew will break all kinds of records and achieve several historic firsts if this mission is a success, but they won't step foot on the moon.

That's because Artemis II was always meant to be a test flight. It's a very expensive and exciting test flight, but a test flight nonetheless.

After sending an uncrewed Orion spacecraft around the moon in 2022 with Artemis I, NASA is now doing the same again with people on board. Artemis II's Orion spacecraft wasn't designed to land on the moon. The mission is all about testing systems and building capacity ahead of planned lunar surface missions in the years ahead.

NASA's first moon landing missions are scheduled for 2028, although it's worth keeping in mind that the Artemis program has been fraught with delays, and NASA originally planned to have astronauts back on the moon by now.

In 2019, NASA was targeting a moon landing by 2024, and yet here we are in 2026, and NASA still hasn't launched its first crewed lunar flyby mission. Fingers crossed today is the day!

Slow fill

NASA has announced that it has completed chilldown and is beginning the slow fill phase of the tanking process.

Propellant loading officially underway

NASA staff have started fueling the rocket, and Antonia Jaramillo is back to provide some audio for NASA's live coverage. Everything is going smoothly for NASA so far.

We are currently in the slow fill phase of the tanking process. Next up is fast fill. As the name suggests, fast fill means that NASA will begin filling the SLS at a faster pace.

The SLS core stage has a big ol' tank that will be filled with 700,000 gallons of super-cold liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen.

Fast fill

Fast fill for the rocket's liquid oxygen oxidizer is underway!

Artemis II's fuelling stages

The day has just begun and we've already hit some jargon.

Fuelling a 322-foot (100 meter) tall moon rocket is no easy task. But the steps for doing so can be broken down into four stages:

Chilldown: This initial stage cools the fuel lines down in order to reduce thermal shock across them. As we've already seen, it's the quickest phase.

Slow fill: This slowly loads Artemis II's extremely cold liquid hydrogen fuel into the rocket, doing so gradually to condition the rocket's plumbing and tanks from room temperature to the -253°C (-423.4°F) temperature the liquid hydrogen is kept at. More on that in a minute.

Fast fill: Once temperatures inside the tank stabilize, the system moves to fast fill, pumping 8,000 gallons of liquid hydrogen and 1,300 gallons of liquid oxygen into the rocket's tanks each minute.

Topping/replenish: Once all the propellant is inside the rocket, engineers closely monitor the rocket for leaks while slowly topping it up to account for some of the fuel boiling off into gas.

Filling speeds

Ben beat me to it, but a reminder that NASA begins with a slow fill phase to reduce the risks of thermal shocks from its super-cold liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen propellant. NASA then speeds up the fueling as part of its fast fill phase.

Currently, we're in slow fill for liquid hydrogen and fast fill for liquid oxygen. Everything is loading smoothly so far.

Why use hydrogen fuel?

If you're familiar with the Artemis program's previous scrubs, or many of the aborted launch attempts throughout NASA history, you'll know how annoying hydrogen can be.

The fuel has bedevilled NASA's spaceflights since the years of the space shuttle, the SLS's predecessor upon which its design is heavily modeled.

That's because as the smallest molecule, hydrogen can readily pass through solid metals such as steel, nickel and titanium by diffusing through their atomic lattices.

And with a boiling point of minus 423 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 253 Celsius, or 20 kelvins), it must be stored at extremely cold temperatures, which can easily freeze seals beyond safe limits.

Despite these drawbacks, hydrogen still provides the highest specific impulse of any chemical propellant, and also burns without producing any harmful byproducts, making it NASA's fuel of choice since the Apollo program.

Fast fill, again

NASA has announced that fast fill is underway for liquid hydrogen.

Know any good moon jokes?

NASA hasn't issued any new updates for a few minutes, so I'm keeping myself entertained by reading moon jokes.

What do shops become at full moon?

Werehouses.

Ticking boxes

NASA engineers are slowly ticking off their to-do lists in anticipation of tonight's launch.

Propellant loading is ongoing in the core stage.

Next up on the to-do list is chilldown for liquid hydrogen in the Space Launch System's interim cryogenic propulsion stage. This stage will provide thrust to the Orion spacecraft in space.

What's on the mission menu?

Hi, science fans! Staff writer Sophie Berdugo here. There's a lot of talk of fuel right now, but what will be fueling the crew through their 10 day mission?

The food and drink loaded onboard has been very carefully selected to balance the health needs of the crew, their individual palettes and the mass, volume and power requirements of the Orion spacecraft.

Oh, and they've tried to minimize crumbs too because, you know, zero gravity…

The crew won't have access to a fridge, so they're waving goodbye to fresh food for a few days.

Still, they do have a pretty wide array of options on the menu each day: There are 189 unique items, including 58 tortillas, 48 cups of coffee and five different hot sauces. And while there's no fridge, there is a "compact, briefcase-style food warmer" should the crew fancy a hot meal, according to NASA.

That's quite a lot of choice, but on the day of launch (which is today, hopefully) and on re-entry the crew won't be able to have any of the dehydrated foods because the onboard potable water dispenser will be out of action.

Oh, and there's maple syrup going up too thanks to Canadian crew member, Jeremy Hansen.

Take a seat

Space fans are already arriving at their seats to watch the launch, as the sun rises over a park in Titusville, Florida that overlooks the launch site.

Artemis II stuns

And can you blame fans for setting up so early when this is their view? Artemis II, you beauty.

Upper stage chilldown

NASA has announced that chilldown is underway for liquid hydrogen in the SLS's interim cryogenic propulsion stage. That means NASA is preparing to start fueling the rocket's upper stage.

Keep in mind that NASA is still fueling the core stage. Mission staff will fuel both stages at the same time.

Upper stage fueling is go

NASA has announced it is fast filling the rocket's upper stage with liquid hydrogen

Where we're at so far

NASA just shared this useful tanking graphic on its live broadcast.

As you can see, engineers have loaded 30% of the core stage liquid hydrogen and 28% of the core stage liquid oxygen so far (more now by the time you're reading this).

Milestones ahead

If you want spoilers for how today's tanking is likely to progress, you can read a list of countdown milestones on NASA's launch day updates page.

NASA has completed eight milestones so far.

There are 26 milestones left to go before we hit booster ignition, umbilical separation, and liftoff!

Topping

Speaking of milestones, NASA's next for the core stage will be liquid hydrogen topping. So, what is topping?

Topping is topping up the tanks. That's it. Putting fuel in a rocket is complicated, but it's hardly rocket science.

The secret crewmate

The Artemis II astronauts aren't the only ones heading for the moon. Mission specialist Jeremy Hansen, mission specialist Christina Koch, commander Reid Wiseman, and pilot Victor Glover (pictured above from left to right) will be accompanied by "Rise," the plush moon mascot.

Wiseman unveiled Artemis II's mascot when the crew arrived at Kennedy Space Center on Friday (March 27) in preparation for today's planned launch.

Rise was designed by 8-year-old Lucas Ye of California, and is a cuddly depiction of the famous "Earthrise" snapshot taken by the Apollo 8 mission.

NASA selected Rise from more than 2,600 submissions to its Moon Mascot contest. But the toy isn't just for the crew's seasoned astronauts to cuddle if they get a bit scared.

The mascot will also serve as the mission's zero gravity indicator by floating around in the spacecraft. Astronauts typically take a small plush item on missions to visually indicate when they have made it to space after liftoff.

"The Artemis II zero gravity indicator will be special for the crew," Wiseman said in August, 2025. "In a spacecraft filled with complex hardware to keep the crew alive in deep space, the indicator is a friendly and useful way to highlight the human element that is so critical to our exploration of the universe."

Godspeed, Rise.

Nearly there for liquid hydrogen

NASA is currently at 96% fueling for the core stage liquid hydrogen. In other words, it's nearly done.

Core stage liquid oxygen is at 60%, while upper stage liquid hydrogen is at 47% and upper stage liquid oxygen is yet to start.

Topping begins

NASA has announced that liquid hydrogen topping has begun in the rocket's core stage. That means the core stage is almost full!

"Everything is going very well right now"

That's according to NASA's Artemis assistant launch director Jeremy Graeber, who just announced the core stage liquid hydrogen fuel tank is 95% loaded.

That means the rocket is steadily approaching the replenishment stage; so far, without a hitch.

"[Replenishment is] a very quiescent configuration for us, and that's required for us to be in that configuration to then be allowed to send our close out crew, which is there to assist the flight crew getting on board Orion," Graeber said on the livestream. "We need to be in that stable replenish configuration to be able to send those crews out to the launch pad."

Core stage liquid hydrogen hits 100%

NASA has announced that liquid hydrogen is at 100% in the core stage.

The space agency will now replenish the tank to ensure it stays full because some of the propellant boils off.

That's it for the fueling core stage liquid hydrogen, except for further replenishment.

Things are starting to get exciting.

No, that steam does not mean Artemis is about to blow up

If you're seeing some steam coming off the rocket's upper and lower stages, don't fear (or get too excited if you're an Artemis hater) it's "an expected condition" according to Antonia Jaramillo of NASA communications.

"As we begin our loading operations, some of that liquid propellant starts warming up," Jaramillo said on the livestream. "It'll start to boil off and vent outside of the rocket."

Hence why, once the rocket's fuel tanks are topped off, they recieve regular replenishing until launch.

No leaks this time (yet)

Antonia Jaramillo reminds viewers that it was a liquid hydrogen leak during core stage fueling that meant NASA had to scrub its first Artemis II wet dress rehearsal — the mission's first fueling test back in February. No problems this time.

Ben and I reported on this leak at the time. You can read what happened here.

More toppings please

Topping has started for liquid hydrogen in the rocket's upper stage.

That means the liquid hydrogen fueling is almost done, except for replenishments.

Watch me eat a donut to celebrate Artemis II

Did someone mention toppings? Kenna here with good news for all donut fans! Krispy Kreme has created an Artemis II themed donut in honor of the historic moon mission.

The pastry is covered in blue vanilla frosting with red syrup in the shape of NASA's red vector and topped with Oreo crumbles and black and white sprinkles. The donut is available through tomorrow, April 2, at select stores.

Like many space fans, where I live (Colorado) is a long way from Florida's Space Coast and the electricity of seeing Artemis II lift off in person.

Grabbing one of these commemorative donuts lets me feel like I'm sharing a piece of the magic of today's mission, or perhaps it goes nicely with my fourth coffee as I keep up with all this Artemis news.

So why has Krispy Kreme jumped on the Artemis bandwagon? Apparently the pastry brand has a long history of commemorating NASA launches. According to USA Today, Krispy Kreme served its original glazed donuts at NASA's historic launch of Apollo 11 in 1969 and, more recently, during the celebration of NASA's Perseverance rover landing on Mars in 2021.

Now, they've added Artemis II to their celebrations, with perhaps further commemorative pastries to come for NASA's planned future moon missions.

Artemis II is nearly fully loaded

No donuts for me, I only consume news.

And, fingers crossed, it's looking pretty good.

NASA is now nearly there with fueling, except for the upper stage liquid oxygen, which isn't due to start for a little while yet.

According to NASA's schedule, mission staff will begin loading the upper stage liquid oxygen in about 30 minutes to 1 hour and 15 minutes.

Would you really go to the moon?

With the Artemis II rocket approaching a full fill, there's still time to answer our poll (and leave your reasons why in the comments below) over whether or not you'd board a rocket to go to the moon.

Best answer gets picked up and flown out to Kennedy Space Center to board the rocket with the crew.

All ready for the show

Okay, that last part was an April Fools' joke, I don't have the authority to get anyone on that rocket.

But Artemis II's popularity is really no joke, Kennedy Space Center is now littered with cameras.

Core stage fully fueled

NASA has now completely fueled the SLS core stage with liquid hydrogen AND liquid oxygen.

Mission staff will keep replenishing the rocket's propellant to ensure it remains full, but both liquid hydrogen and liquid hydrogen are now at 100%.

Now we just have to wait for NASA to finish fueling the upper stage.

Upper stage enters fast fill

NASA has commenced fast fill of the upper stage's liquid oxygen.

We are now very, very close.

So far, so good

Are you getting hyped? We're all pretty hyped.

NASA has almost fueled its Artemis II Space Launch System rocket at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. And, so far, we haven't seen any hydrogen leaks, which were a problem during the first Artemis II fueling rehearsal on Feb. 3, or helium flow issues like on the night of Feb. 20-21, which forced NASA to take its rocket back to the shop for urgent repairs.

But don't get carried away just yet, there's still a little way to go.

NASA scrubbed Artemis II's first wet dress rehearsal with around five minutes left on the countdown clock, and today's launch isn't scheduled for at least another six hours.

But again, so far, so good.

Nearly there!

The fueling is nearly complete. Aaaahhhhh!

That means we're closing in on the main Artemis II launch broadcast, the launch itself and, most importantly, my break (I was lying about only feeding on news earlier).

It's still looking swell out there

Charlie Blackwell-Thompson, Artemis launch director, says the weather remains at 80% likelihood for mission go today.

That remains the best forecast for any of the days in this launch window.

Tanking coverage ends

NASA has concluded its tanking broadcast... With a cliffhanger.

We're now watching a screen that says "LIVE EVENT STARTS SOON" as we wait for the main launch broadcast to start.

Do I need to watch Apollo 1 to 17 to understand the plot of Artemis II?

Unlike the MCU or Star Wars, you thankfully do not need to watch all 17 previous launches of NASA's Apollo missions to understand the importance of Artemis II.

That said, the Apollo saga does provide important backstory for why Artemis II is so important. So while you do not need to watch the previous Apollo launches to "get" Artemis II, it does help to know what happened in the earlier seasons of the Moon Cinematic Universe (the real MCU).

Unfortunately, the Apollo saga begins with the Apollo 1 fire, which killed all three crewmembers during a ground test and reshaped NASA's safety culture.

Skipping ahead, Apollo 4 to 6 were uncrewed test missions proving the hardware actually worked, while Apollo 7 was the first to get astronauts flying again into orbit.

Apollo 8 then made history by becoming the first crewed mission to actually reach the moon, with Apollo 9 then becoming the first moon mission with all equipment, including the lunar module, to successfully fly in low Earth orbit.

Skipping ahead again we get to the historic Apollo 11 landing where humans first kick up moon dust on their boots. After that, Apollo 12 landed on the lunar surface with Apollo 13 attempting to, but instead having a near-catastrophic failure that thankfully ended with its crew returning safely to Earth, and birthing the famous phrase "Houston, we have a problem."

After that, Apollo missions 14 to 17 returned to the moon for increasingly ambitious space exploration and science, with Apollo 17 becoming the last human moon landing to date.

And if all goes well, today's Artemis II launch could be the moment that the MCU enters a new era of lunar exploration. A franchise reboot, if you like.

Launch broadcast begins

NASA is back with the start of its official launch broadcast. Not much has changed. The rocket is still on the launchpad.

But there's some cool new videos and music, so maybe a vibe shift?

Suiting up

NASA has released footage of its astronauts suiting up. In this image, you can see commander Reid Wiseman putting on his communications cap, nicknamed the “Snoopy Cap” during the Apollo era.

This cap will enable ground control to stay in contact with the astronauts during launch.

Artemis II is now fully fueled

The upper stage's liquid oxygen level is now at 100%. That means both stages, and the entirety of the Artemis II rocket, are completely filled.

NASA will now continue replenishing the propellant before launch because some of it boils off.

NASA is now closing in on a key series of final checks before four astronauts will be given the all clear to enter the Orion spacecraft and get launched to the moon.

One minor issue

Megan Cruz, of NASA communications, and NASA astronaut Nichole Ayers are the hosts for NASA's main broadcast.

We had to wait a few agonizing minutes for confirmation of all stages replenished, but we eventually got it, so fueling is now complete.

Derrol Nail of NASA communications said that NASA is tracking one minor issue. We don't know what that issue is yet, but we should hear more soon.

Checklist check-in

Earlier, I told you that NASA published a list of 35 countdown milestones on its launch day updates page.

Mission staff have now completed 23 of those countdown milestones.

That leaves only 12 left to go until booster ignition, umbilical separation and liftoff.

That one "minor" issue? It's maybe so minor it doesn't exist

A little earlier, Derrol Nail of NASA communications said that NASA was tracking one "minor" issue. Well now he's back, and he says that he was wrong.

"I mentioned that there was a small issue," Nail said. "That actually was incorrect. There was no issue, I've gotten the good data now that I'm on the headset and listening into the loops."

"Engineers are keeping an eye on a display unit inside Orion that's just running a little cooler than normal — it's not going out of limit," he added. "It's actually completely fine, but they just were noting the trend and reported that to the NASA Test Director."

Otherwise Nail has said that the tanking has been "incredibly smooth."

A prelaunch card game?

I think what I'm seeing is the Artemis II crew playing cards now? What's going on?

What traditions do astronauts have for the day of the launch?

Oh am I glad you asked, Ben. It's actually one of NASA's many prelaunch traditions.

After more than 60 years of rocket launches, NASA has collected a fascinating array of launch-day traditions that the Artemis II astronauts are participating in.

One of the main traditions happens long before the walkout photos. In the morning before a launch, crewmembers typically sit down and eat a classic steak-and-egg breakfast to start the day — a ritual tied to the early days of American spaceflight. NASA astronaut Alan Shepard is believed to have started this tradition in 1961, before the launch of NASA's Mercury-Redstone 3 (MR-3) mission, a suborbital flight that lasted 15 minutes and 28 seconds.

After eating, crewmembers participate in another tradition, a prelaunch card game. The game, usually a form of poker or blackjack, plays out until the commander of the mission loses. It's a bit of superstition meant to "use up" the bad luck before anyone heads out to the launchpad.

The crew have emerged

Here they are, stepping out onto the tarmac, and making things feel a lot more real.

The Artemis II crew have just had some emotional farewells with some members of their family, alongside friends — as only a few are allowed out to the launch pad with them.

What makes the Orion Artemis II suits so special?

As NASA continues to stream live coverage of the upcoming Artemis II launch, viewers saw the four astronauts getting suited up in their orange spacesuits. But what makes these suits so important?

The Artemis II spacesuits are specialized launch-and-entry pressure suits designed to keep astronauts alive if the Orion crew cabin ever loses pressure during the flight.

"The suit is an all-in-one," said NASA astronaut Nicole Ayers in NASA's April 1 livestream. "They have 10 minutes of oxygen in the case of an emergency."

The suits also include improved cooling and ventilation features to help keep the astronauts cool during long mission phases. Each suit has been custom fitted for each astronaut to ensure the most comfortable fit. The suits plug directly into the Orion capsule, where umbilical connections provide cooling, ventilation, communications and pressure support so the astronauts can remain protected and connected throughout the entire mission.

"Spacesuits are essentially wearable spacecraft," Debbie Senesky, an engineer and an associate professor at Stanford University in the Aeronautics and Astronautics Department, said in a recent statement. "They have to maintain pressure around the body, resist radiation, and be flame-retardant, all while giving the astronaut enough mobility to actually move."

Update from the ground: Final suit-up and departure preparations underway

Here’s Live Science contributor Roger Guillemette on the ground in Florida, bringing us live updates:

The countdown for the Artemis II launch is proceeding smoothly and is now entering the most critical hours leading up to the opening of tonight’s launch window at 6:24 PM EDT (2224 GMT).

The three NASA astronauts – Mission Commander Reid Wiseman, Pilot Victor Glover and Mission Specialist 1 Christina Koch & Canadian astronaut Mission Specialist 2 Jeremy Hansen – have just departed the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building for the 9-mile drive to the launch pad. Prior to departure, the crew completed their final spacesuit checks, medical reviews, and communications verifications.

The Artemis II crew are riding in a new set of wheels: A fleet of shiny crew transportation vehicles is transporting them to Launch Complex 39B for their historic ride aboard the Space Launch System rocket and their Orion spacecraft named “Integrity”.

The launch team is not tracking any technical issues at this time. On the pad, the 322 foot (98 meters) tall Space Launch System rocket is fueled and in stable replenish mode as teams continue topping off liquid hydrogen and oxygen lost to natural boiloff.

The weather forecast remains optimistic with an 80% probability of acceptable conditions, with primary concerns being cumulus clouds, ground winds, and solar weather.

Why do astronauts quarantine before launching?

In the days leading up to a big launch, it's protocol for astronauts to quarantine before a launch. For the Artemis II astronauts, they quarantined with their families, giving them time to connect with loved ones before heading for the moon.

So why do astronauts have to quarantine before a launch?

It comes down to avoiding health issues in space, as even the most minor of illnesses can become a major problem in zero gravity. There, medical equipment is limited, so medical problems, like the recent one that happened to astronaut Michael Fincke on the SpaceX Crew-11 mission, can easily develop into something bigger without proper treatment.

By limiting contact with others in the final days before liftoff, NASA helps protect the crew and the mission timeline, especially in the case of the historic Artemis II mission.

Update from the ground: Crew arrives at Pad 39B

Here’s Live Science contributor Roger Guillemette on the ground in Florida, bringing us live updates:

2:30 PM EDT — T-3:54

The Artemis II astronauts have arrived at Launch Complex 39B. After exiting the crew transport vehicle, they rode the elevator up to the 274-foot level of the launch tower and walked across the crew access arm into the ‘white room’ surrounding the Orion spacecraft.

The Close-Out crew has been prepping the spacecraft and are now assisting the astronauts as they begin their ingress into Orion.

The launch team is not currently working on any technical issues, as they continually monitor the Space Launch System’s cryogenic replenish and vehicle pressures, as well as Orion’s environmental systems while the crew prepares to board.

The launch weather forecast remains favorable. Spotty showers in Kennedy Space Center area are expected to dissipate, clearing toward the opening of the launch window at 6:24 PM EDT (2224 GMT).

A record-breaking crew

This mission willl see each member of the Artemis II crew break or set records in their own way, here are some more details from Brandon about how.

Astronaut record: Jeremy Hanson, first non-American to visit the moon

Hailing from London, Ontario, mission specialist Jeremy Hanson is about to become the first Canadian — and first non-American, period — to visit the lunar environment.What does a Canadian bring to space to honor his home country? No, not a goose. Hanson, a first-time space flyer, will reportedly be bringing some maple syrup and maple cookies for his debut voyage.

Learn about more Artemis II records here.

Astronaut record: Victor Glover, first black astronaut to visit the moon

Mission pilot Victor Glover will make history as the first Black astronaut to visit the lunar environment — and the first Black astronaut to venture beyond low Earth orbit.

The 49-year-old former fighter pilot previously spent 168 days on the International Space Station (ISS) between November 2020 and May 2021, making him the first Black astronaut to visit the station. On this trip, he also became the first person to pilot SpaceX's Dragon crew capsule, which was being used to deliver astronauts to the ISS for the first time.

Learn about more Artemis II records here.

Astronaut record: Christina Koch, first woman to visit the moon

Mission specialist Christina Koch will be the first woman to go beyond low Earth orbit and visit the lunar environment.

Koch, 47, already has some significant records under her belt. She holds the record for the most consecutive days spent in space by a woman — having spent 328 days on the ISS between March 2019 and February 2020. During this flight, Koch also participated in the first-ever all-female spacewalk alongside fellow NASA astronaut Jessica Meir.

Learn about more Artemis II records here.

Astronaut record: Reid Wiseman, oldest astronaut to visit the moon

Mission commander Reid Wiseman will become the oldest astronaut to ever visit the lunar environment. Wiseman turned 50 in November, and will snatch this record from legendary NASA astronaut Alan Shepard, who was 47 when he set foot on the moon during the Apollo 14 mission in 1971.

Learn about more Artemis II records here.

Update from the ground: Astronauts board Orion spacecraft

Here’s Live Science contributor Roger Guillemette on the ground in Florida, bringing us live updates:

3:19PM EDT — T-3:04

The Artemis II crew have all entered their Orion spacecraft named “Integrity” and taken their positions in their custom-fitted launch/entry seats. Once inside, technicians secured each astronaut, connecting suit umbilicals for cooling, communications, and oxygen.

The first round of seat-specific communications checks between the astronauts in Orion, the launch control center at the Kennedy, and mission control in Houston has been completed.

The four astronauts have closed the visors on their helmets and inflated their flight suits, and technicians have just concluded a series of leak checks.

The launch team is not currently monitoring any technical issues; the countdown has been proceeding smoothly with little chatter on the communication loops. The Space Launch System booster is fully fueled and in stable cryogenic replenish.

The launch weather forecast remains favorable for launch this evening at 6:24 PM EDT (2224 GMT). Spotty showers in the Kennedy Space Center area are expected to dissipate by launch time.

More about Roger:

Roger has witnessed close to 100 piloted spaceflight launches - from the July 1975 Saturn 1B launch of the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project to the final launch of Shuttle Atlantis on STS-135 in July 2011.

His live coverage of the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster was cited as a key factor in Space.com receiving the 2003 Online Journalism Award for Breaking News.

Roger is a correspondent for Space.com, and was previously an Editor/Producer and space reporter for Florida Today’s pioneering 'Space Online' website.

A Rhode Island native, Roger is a graduate of Roger Williams University, now semi-retired to the Lowcountry of South Carolina.

"Like taking a chest X-Ray every day"

The crew have now taken their positions inside the fully-fueled Artemis rocket.

But what about the dangers that lie ahead?

Sending astronauts into space gives NASA a rare opportunity to study how deep spaceflight affects the human body. After leaving Earth's protective magnetic field, the Artemis II crew will have more exposure to space weather, including solar flares.

Live Science recently spoke with Patricia Reiff, a professor of physics and astronomy at Rice University in Houston, Texas, to discuss space weather and how it could impact the Artemis II mission.

Reiff has more than fifty years of experience studying space plasma physics and received her doctorate analyzing data from NASA's first trips to the moon during the Apollo era. Find out what she said about the radiation risks to Artemis II's crew, how galactic cosmic rays are "like taking a chest X-Ray every day" and why Reiff would travel to the moon during solar maximum rather than solar minimum.

Full story here.

Signing the white room wall

Like other astronauts before them, the Artemis II astronauts just signed one of the walls in the "white room," a secluded, clean environment at the end of the crew access arm on the launch tower, the last area before the astronauts enter the spacecraft and where they do their final suit up.

The tradition of signing the white room wall has been around for decades, including during the time of the space shuttle Endeavor.

The white walls are now covered in hundreds of signatures, with the four Artemis II astronauts being the newest additions.

Buckled in and ready to go

As ground engineers make their final checks, the Artemis II are in the Orion Capsule "Integrity" running through comms and equipment checks.

Where will you be watching the Artemis II launch?

Obviously we'll be glued to our laptops before, during and after liftoff. But what about you?

Where are you going to be watching this historic mission? Let us know in the poll and leave your comments here.

Final checks made inside the cabin and in the skies

4:00 PM EDT — T minus 2:24

The close-out team is testing Orion’s cabin integrity to ensure the spacecraft is holding pressure in preparing for spacecraft closeout.

Engineers and pad technicians are completing final interior inspections, removing non-flight items, and preparing for hatch closure procedure.

The launch team is not currently working on any technical issues with either the Space Launch System (SLS) booster or the Orion spacecraft as the countdown is proceeding very smoothly toward tonight’s target launch time at 6:24 PM EDT (22:24 GMT).

Rain showers have been passing through Kennedy Space Center and gray rain clouds floating over the Cape Canaveral area.

Meteorologists just released a weather balloon to monitor upper-level winds to verify they are within acceptable limits. Forecasters are still calling for acceptable conditions at launch time.

The Press Center at Kennedy Space Center is filled to capacity — this correspondent was just evicted from his work location in the news conference auditorium and is now working from his truck!

The view from the far side

The Artemis II crew is about to go farther into space than any humans have ever been. On day 6 of their mission, the team will zoom around the far side of the moon, about 250,000 miles (400,000 km) from Earth.

Their view will be one of a kind. Outside the Orion capsule window, the moon will look about the size of a basketball held at arm’s length, according to NASA, with an even smaller Earth behind it. This will give the team views of the lunar south pole — a coveted landing site for future missions — that has never been seen by human eyes before.

According to NASA, the team will also witness a rare total solar eclipse from the far side of the moon.

"A pretty unique situation here" — Artemis II launch team working through range issue at launch site

Derrol Nail of NASA communications has arrived with an update that ground crews are working through an issue with the range on the ground.

Anytime NASA launches a rocket, the agency has to clear an airspace launch corridor to where the rocket's flight path is going to go.

But part of this system in the Eastern Range of Kennedy Space Center, called the Flight Termination System (FTS) is experiencing "an issue".

"It's the system that the Eastern Range here uses in order to send a destruct signal to a rocket in case it veers off path," Nail said. "So it's a very critical, important safety component in terms of how the range keeps the public safe."

In order to verify the work to fix the system, engineers are working with the FTS console operator by fetching "a piece of heritage equipment from inside the VAB [Vehicle Assembly Building] that was used during the Space Shuttle Program."

"This equipment is able to receive commands by the range through the flight termination system," Nail said. "The bottom line is that, at this moment, the range is no-go. But that is not stopping us from moving forward in the countdown."

More on this as we get it.

What abort plans does NASA have if the mission fails?

No one ever wants a mission to fail, but NASA has backup plans if something goes wrong with the Artemis II launch.

If an emergency happens earlier in the launch, the Orion's crew capsule launch abort system can separate the crew capsule away from the rocket. It sits on top of the capsule and is designed to fire within milliseconds, pulling the crew away from the SLS rocket and then reorienting the capsule for a parachute descent and ocean landing.

"If this scenario were to happen on the pad, the abort system will go from zero to 405 miles [651 kilometers] per hour in two seconds," Pamela Petranovich, program manager for the abort motor, said in a statement provided by NASA contractor Northrop Grumman.

However, if something happens later in the launch, after the Orion launch abort system had already separated, the Orion crew capsule will use a service module to engage other abort modes. The two options NASA has laid out for this stage is an untargeted Atlantic splashdown for certain ascent emergencies, or an abort once around, where the Orion crew capsule has enough energy to continue partway around Earth and then reenter for recovery, usually somewhere in the Pacific ocean.

"The good news is, the range is go"

Derrol Nail of NASA communications back with an update that the Flight Termination System officer's fix worked.

"The range is go. That is no longer a constraint," Nail said. "Combine that with the fact that the rocket and the ground systems here are also working — no constraints, clear board."

Update from the ground: Final close-out tasks before launch

5:15 PM EDT — T-1:06

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — The close-out crew is performing their final tasks before departing Launch Complex 39-B in preparation for tonight’s launch of the Artemis II mission to the moon.

This evening’s two-hour launch window opens at 6:24 PM EDT (2224 GMT) and weather conditions at the Kennedy Space Center are looking promising, with lots of blue sky over the Atlantic Ocean.

Good news – the issue with Eastern Range’s Flight Termination System has been resolved and the Range is now ‘GO’ to support this evening’s launch.

Mission managers are starting to poll the teams monitoring the Space Launch System booster, Orion spacecraft, ground systems, weather and Range Safety to gauge their readiness for launch in preparation for the formal go/no-go decision for the final terminal countdown.

Roger Guillemette is reporting live from Kennedy Space Center

A shameless plug

Given there is a bit of downtime while NASA gets ducks in a line for launch, humor us with a little shameless self-promotion.

If you like what you see on this live blog, there's plenty more to read, watch and play on Live Science and our social media channels.

If you're a fan of science news — and we know you are, that's why you're here — read our in-depth features from our Science Spotlight series, expert news analysis on the latest research, Q&As and op-eds with some of the most fascinating people in science.

For the curious out there, check out Life's Little Mysteries, where we use science to answer questions big and, well, little. You can also get an exclusive mystery every Friday by signing up to our newsletter.

Away from the website, you can get all our great content, as well as a few extra treats on our social media channels, which are; LinkedIn, Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), Flipboard, Instagram, TikTok, Bluesky and LinkedIn.

That's it from me, back to more rocket stuff

Battery issue

Having fixed the range issue, NASA now says it's working through a problem with a battery. One of two batteries in the Launch Abort System (LAS) has a temperature that is out of range.

"The team is working to understand first of all whether or not this may be a sensor issue or is there an issue with the battery itself," said Derrol Nail of NASA communications.

Engineers work through battery issue as countdown enters final hour

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — 5:30 PM EDT — T-0:54

The launch team is currently working on an issue with a battery temperature that is out of range in the Launch Abort System.

The Artemis II countdown is entering the final hour before launch tonight at 6:24 PM EDT (2224 GMT). The close-out crew is closing out the ‘white room’ surrounding the Orion spacecraft and preparing to depart the launch pad.

Weather conditions have improved, meteorologists are now forecasting a 90% chance of acceptable conditions.

Terminal count preparations are underway, and the launch team is monitoring weather conditions, vehicle status, crew readiness, and ground systems ahead of the terminal countdown handoff.

Roger Guillemette is reporting live from Kennedy Space Center

Update on the ground: Terminal launch sequence about to begin

6:04 PM EDT — T-0:20

CAPE CANAVERAL, FL. - With just 20 minutes remaining before tonight’s targeted launch time, Artemis II will soon enter the automated terminal sequence that will control the Space Launch System through the final steps before ignition.

The ground launch sequencer and onboard computers will manage tank pressurization, internal power transitions, and final engine readiness logic.

If the final polls remain Green or Go, the countdown will proceed to booster ignition at 6:24 PM EDT (2224 GMT), sending humans toward the Moon for the first time since Apollo.

Stay tuned.

Roger Guillemette is reporting live from Kennedy Space Center

Battery issue fixed

We've been reporting that NASA flagged an issue with the temperature on a battery in the Launch Abort System. Well, good news.

Engineers have been troubleshooting the higher-than-expected temperature and have cleared the problem, which is believed to be an instrumentation issue.

"They're convinced this is an instrumentation failure," said Derrol Nail of NASA communications.

Update on the ground: Artemis II is go for launch

CAPE CANAVERAL, FL. - The Mission Management Team has given the final OK for this evening’s launch attempt of Artemis II – the first human spaceflight to the moon in over half a century.

The four-person crew will be the first astronauts launched into space atop NASA's mighty Space Launch System (SLS) rocket on their mission to fly the Orion spacecraft around the moon and back.

The countdown clock will soon pick up at the T-minus 10-minute mark.

Roger Guillemette is reporting live from Kennedy Space Center

The only way is up

The crew access arm has now retracted from the Space Launch System.

Update on the ground: 5 minutes to liftoff

CAPE CANAVERAL, FL. - Artemis II is now just five minutes from liftoff, and the countdown has moved fully into the automated terminal sequence phase.

From this point forward, the ground launch sequencer and onboard computers are controlling the final events with split-second precision, including final tank pressurization, engine bleed conditioning, guidance system alignment, and the arming of the flight termination and abort systems.

Inside the Orion spacecraft named ‘Integrity,’ the four astronauts are strapped in and listening to the final callouts from launch control as the Space Launch System transitions from a fueled rocket on the pad into a fully autonomous launch vehicle.

The next major audible milestone will be the final “go for launch” confirmation, followed by ignition of the four RS-25 engines, then the twin solid rocket boosters at T-0.

In just five minutes, Artemis II will begin humanity’s first crewed voyage toward the moon since Apollo.

Roger Guillemette is reporting live from Kennedy Space Center

We have liftoff

After years of delays, scrubs, and nail-biting near cancellations of the Artemis program, NASA is sending humanity back to the moon for the first time in 54 years.

Solid rocket boosters separate

The rocket's empty boosters have been ejected.

Several other nonessential components, including the launch abort system, will also be tossed away.

This reduces the overall weight of the spacecraft and allows the rocket's main engines to propel it the rest of the way.

For more on the mission stages, read Harry's story here.

The Artemis II crew cross the boundary to space

The Artemis II crew have crossed the boundary into space with good comm checks.

Main engine cutoff

The rocket's main engines have run out of fuel, swiftly detaching and falling away.

Artemis II's crew are now on their way to the moon

Having taken off with barely a hitch, the Artemis II crew will now slingshot around the Earth, sending them into a cislunar downtown shot to precisely where the moon will be in six days time.

For more on the mission stages, read Harry's story here.

Artemis II summarized

Want a recap of this historic day in spaceflight?

You can do no better than Patrick Pester's excellent story here.

On April Fools' Day 2026, humanity is returning to the moon.

Goodnight and Godspeed, Artemis

Well, space fans, you showed up!

More than 3 million people watched the official launch broadcast across two YouTube streams, and those are just NASA's YouTube channels. The feed was also being broadcast across social media, streaming sites, and third-party websites.

Our team at Live Science was a small handful compared to the crowds of people who turned up to watch history in the making. From all of us across both the United Kingdom and the United States, thank you for experiencing this moment with us.

If you liked what you saw, there's plenty more to read, watch and play on Live Science and our social media channels.

We'll continue covering Artemis II's journey to the moon and back in the following days, but for now, this is all of us on the team: Ben, Patrick, Al, Brandon, Roger, Harry and Kenna, saying goodnight and go Artemis!

NASA's Artemis II moon mission has cleared one of its biggest hurdles yet: After a full flight readiness review and other checks, teams gave the first crewed Artemis flight the green light to launch as soon as Wednesday (April 1).

"Something really big is going to happen," said launch director Charlie Blackwell-Thompson at a March 30 news conference.

This is a major step for the Artemis II mission, which aims to send four astronauts to the lunar system and back for the first time since Apollo 17 in 1972.

NASA leaders sounded confident after the review. "We are getting very, very close, and we are ready," Lori Glaze, NASA's acting associate administrator for exploration systems development, said during a March 29 mission status update.

The weather is leaning in the mission's favor, with the latest forecast showing an 80% chance of acceptable conditions for liftoff Wednesday.

Artemis II is NASA's first chance to test the life-support equipment aboard the Orion crew capsule with astronauts on board, as well as its first crewed mission beyond low Earth orbit in over 50 years. If all goes well, the roughly 10-day flight will help prove the agency's moon-to-Mars hardware is ready for even riskier missions ahead, including crewed lunar landings and a future lunar base.

A long road to the launchpad

The mission did not reach this point in a straight line. Artemis II has worked through technical snags, including earlier trouble with liquid hydrogen leaking and a helium-flow issue in the rocket's upper stage. These issues forced extra work in the Vehicle Assembly Building before the rocket was rolled back out to Launch Pad 39B at Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida. NASA said those issues were addressed as teams pushed through final integration, countdown rehearsals and launch prep.

Now, the focus is narrowing to launch day. NASA's latest update says cloud cover and possible strong ground winds are the main weather concerns for launch criteria, but the overall picture looks favorable. Teams at Kennedy Space Center began countdown activities Monday at 4:44 p.m. EDT, with the agency targeting a launch time no earlier than 6:24 p.m. EDT Wednesday.

This launch window runs through April 6, with April 30 being the last date for a backup attempt.

Artemis II will carry NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch, along with Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen, on a free-return path around the moon, and it is expected to break several records. Although the mission won't land on the moon, it will help photograph the dark side of the moon like never before and pave the way for the Artemis III and Artemis IV missions as the U.S. eyes a more sustained human presence on its celestial satellite.

How much do you know about the history of missions to the moon? Try our moon landing quiz now!

NASA is making its final preparations to launch its Artemis II rocket on a historic crewed flight around the moon.

Artemis II's mission management team will make a final decision about the readiness of its Space Launch System (SLS) and Orion capsule to launch this afternoon. If they give the green light, then Artemis II could take off during a two-hour launch window that opens at 6.24 p.m. ET on Wednesday (April 1).

The space agency has said there's an 80% chance of favorable weather conditions to launch Artemis II on Wednesday. NASA is mainly concerned with cloud cover and the potential for high winds above the launch site at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

"We are getting very, very close, and we are ready," Lori Glaze, the acting associate administrator for NASA's exploration systems development mission directorate, said during a news conference on Sunday (March 29).

Artemis II is scheduled to take humans farther into space than ever before as part of a 10-day test flight around the far side of the moon. This is NASA's first attempt to send humans back to the moon in more than 50 years, with hopes it will pave the way for lunar landings in 2028 and future crewed missions to Mars.

The Artemis II crew includes three NASA astronauts: commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, and mission specialist Christina Koch, along with Canadian Space Agency astronaut and mission specialist Jeremy Hansen.

On Sunday, the crew took virtual questions from the press at their quarantine quarters at Kennedy Space Center (astronauts go into quarantine ahead of a launch to ensure they don't get infected by illnesses that could delay their mission). Commander Wiseman stressed that the mission is a test flight, and the crew doesn't have an expectation that they will fly on Wednesday.

"This is the first time we're going to try this," Wiseman said. "This is the first time we're loading humans on board. And I will tell you, the four of us, we are ready to go, the team is ready to go and the vehicle is ready to go, but not for one second do we have an expectation that we are going."

"We will go when this vehicle tells us it's ready, when the team is ready to go," he added."So, we might go out to the pad and we might have to try again a few more times and we are 100% ready for that."

NASA has worked through numerous issues and delays to get to this point. For example, last month, the mission was delayed for the second time this year after NASA discovered a helium-flow issue in the upper stage of the mission's Space Launch System (SLS) rocket. NASA said it has fixed that problem, but that doesn't mean new problems won't arise to delay the mission again between now and Wednesday.

The April launch windows for Artemis II run from Wednesday through to Monday (April 4 to 9), with the potential for a launch on any of those days. After Monday, the next launch window is April 30. This will be NASA's last chance to launch the rocket on time, as the mission is meant to lift off no later than April 30.

After repeated delays, NASA is finally ready to launch its much-anticipated Artemis II mission, which will send humans back to the moon for the first time in more than 50 years.

The Artemis II crew includes commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover and mission specialist Christina Koch of NASA and mission specialist Jeremy Hansen from the Canadian Space Agency, who were first selected for the mission in 2023.

The team is scheduled to lift off from Launch Pad 39B at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida at some point from Wednesday (April 1). They will be strapped into the Orion capsule aboard NASA's 322-feet-tall (98 meters) Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, which will propel them into a slingshot around the moon and back over roughly 10 days.

In addition to helping prepare for a return to the moon's surface and the eventual construction of a lunar base, each member of the crew will break multiple records — both collectively and individually.

Here are the six most important achievements they will make.

1. First Black astronaut to visit the moon

During the upcoming mission, Glover will make history as the first Black astronaut to visit the lunar environment and the first Black astronaut to venture beyond low Earth orbit (LEO).

The 49-year-old former fighter-jet pilot previously spent 168 days on the International Space Station (ISS) between November 2020 and May 2021, making him the first Black astronaut to visit the station. On this trip, he also made history as the first person to pilot SpaceX's Dragon crew capsule, which was being used to deliver astronauts to the ISS for the first time.

During Artemis II, Glover will also become the first person to fly NASA's Orion spacecraft, when he takes control of the otherwise-autonomous module during a roughly two-hour window, dubbed "prox ops," shortly after launch while the crew is still orbiting Earth, according to a NASA fact sheet. This stage will provide crucial data for the astronauts of future missions, including Artemis III, which will attempt to dock with a lunar lander in LEO, and Artemis IV, which will finally put boots back on the lunar surface.

2. First woman to visit the moon

Mission specialist Koch will be the first woman to go beyond LEO and visit the lunar environment.

Koch, 47, also holds the record for the most consecutive days in space by a woman, having spent 328 days on the ISS between March 2019 and February 2020. During this trip, Koch also participated in the first-ever all-female spacewalk alongside fellow NASA astronaut Jessica Meir. (The record for the most nonconsecutive days in space by a woman is held by now-retired NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson, who spent 665 days in space across three spaceflights.)

During the Artemis II mission, Koch and fellow mission specialist Hansen will be the first to get to work, unstrapping from their seats around 40 minutes after liftoff to help set up vital life-support systems within the capsule, according to the mission's proposed timeline.

3. First non-American to visit the moon

Hansen is the third crewmember who will personally break new ground (or space) during the upcoming mission. The 50-year-old Canadian will become the first non-American to visit the lunar environment and only the 10th Canadian to launch into space.

Hansen is the only crewmember who has not yet been to space. As a result, he may experience "space adaptation syndrome," which is essentially an extreme version of motion sickness that affects around half of first-time astronauts.

"I'm definitely worried about that," Hansen previously told Ars Technica. If he is affected, he will have to be "very intentional" with his movements and "try to minimize" what he does during the initial stages of the mission, he added.

4. Oldest astronaut to visit the moon

Not to be outdone by the rest of his crew, Wiseman will also set an individual record during the upcoming lunar flyby, becoming the oldest person to visit the lunar environment.

Wiseman turned 50 in November (77 days before Hansen) and will take over the record from legendary NASA astronaut Alan Shepard, who was 47 when he set foot on the moon during the Apollo 14 mission in 1971. (Shepard was also the first American in space, which he achieved on board the Freedom 7 capsule in 1961.)

Interestingly, Hansen and Glover are also older than Shepard was during Apollo 14, and Koch is only 72 days younger, hinting that NASA is prioritizing experience in the Artemis program.

5. Farthest distance from Earth by humans

The Artemis II crew is being sent to the lunar environment on a "free-return trajectory," which essentially means they will slingshot around the moon and return to Earth without having to carry out a return burn. This is different to most of the later Apollo missions, which entered into a temporary orbit around the moon.

The last free-return trajectory was inadvertently completed by the Apollo 13 crew, who scrambled to carry out a similar maneuver after they were famously forced to abandon a lunar landing following an explosion on board their spacecraft. The Artemis I mission also slingshotted around the moon in a similar way, but it was uncrewed.

During their "moonshot," the Artemis II crew is expected to reach a maximum distance of 250,000 miles (402,000 kilometers) from Earth — around 1,500 miles (2,400 km) farther than the Apollo 13 astronauts, who previously held this record. This will occur while the crew is out of radio contact for up to 50 minutes as they traverse the far side of the moon.

In "Star Trek"-like fashion, the Artemis II astronauts will literally "boldly go where no [hu]man has gone before." And given that future moon missions, like Artemis IV, will not use a free-return trajectory, this record could stand for quite some time — maybe even until humans visit Mars.

6. Greatest reentry speed (and fastest humans in history)

Due to the mission's unique trajectory, the Artemis II crew will also reenter Earth's atmosphere at slightly higher speeds than any other astronauts in history.

NASA estimates that the crew's peak reentry speed will be slightly over 25,000 mph (40,200 km/h), which would beat the reentry record currently held by the Apollo 10 astronauts, who came in hot after burning excess fuel on their return from a lunar flyby in 1969.

Some experts have questioned whether the Orion spacecraft's heat shields can handle the resulting fiery temperatures. However, NASA is confident that the shields can do their job.

This record also means that the Artemis II astronauts will travel faster than any other humans in history (as reentry is the fastest part of any space mission). However, it is not the fastest speed traveled by a human-made object. That record belongs to NASA's Parker Solar Probe, which reached top speeds of around 430,000 mph (692,000 km/h) during its recent close flybys of our home star.

Other firsts

In addition to the major records listed above, the Artemis II mission will mark several other firsts.

For example, the mission will mark the first crewed launch of NASA's mega SLS rocket and the first time humans have journeyed aboard — and piloted — the Orion spacecraft.

Similarly, a lot of the technology being tested on board the Orion spacecraft is being used in space for the first time. One of the most important examples of this is the Orion Artemis II Optical Communications System, which uses lasers to send and receive messages from Earth and will serve as the basis for future communication relays at NASA's planned moon base.

And last but not least, Artemis II will feature the first fully functioning toilet to visit the moon, as the modules used by the Apollo astronauts were equipped only with "relief tubes" and disposable bags.

Today's top story

Moonifest destiny

NASA laid out ambitious plans for its return to the moon yesterday, as the space agency's administrator Jared Isaacman announced he was cancelling a planned space station in lunar orbit to use its parts for a $20 billion permanent base on the moon's surface, while also sending a nuclear-powered spacecraft to Mars.

The announcement comes off the back of a major overhaul of NASA's Artemis program, which plans to return astronauts to the moon with the second mission in the program, Artemis II, launching as soon as April 1. The agency is now aiming for annual launches, potentially dropping SpaceX and Boeing from its mission plans, and targeting two lunar landings in 2028.

The new lunar base plans, which will use a fleet of drones and robotic landers to establish a nuclear power station on the moon's surface by 2036, are ambitious to say the least, and motivated as much by a desire to stay ahead of China in the new space race as they are by any scientific purpose. Whether they're realistic, or simple lunacy, remains to be seen.

The trend

Wildfires spread

This year's wildfire season is already looking pretty ominous, with fires breaking out unusually early and intensely across the central and western United States, in the wake of a record-breaking March heatwave.

Major blazes are burning through regions in Colorado, parts of the Great Plains and Nebraska — where one record-breaking fire burned more than 600,000 acres ( 240,000 hectares) in mere days.

The outbreaks, driven by a combination of factors including extreme heat, strong winds and low humidity, could be a troubling early warning of a dangerous wildfire season ahead. And the problem could be compounded by staffing shortages at federal disaster response agencies.

Three to read

1. Mars is hiding a secret clutch of gemstone-like crystals, including rubies and possibly sapphires [Live Science]
2. Prominent researcher exits NASA, citing US attacks on science [Bloomberg]
3. Iran war has already released a staggering amount of CO2 — and the destruction of schools, homes and buildings is the biggest source [Live Science]

Graph of the day

The sea is way too hot right now

See that red line? That's the globe's sea surface temperatures so far this year, which are continuing to break daily records set during the unprecedented year of 2024. And that's before the appearance of a possible "super El Niño" later this year, which could push global temperatures to unprecedented highs.

Say it, said it

Word of the day

Tharsis — The Greek-Latin transliteration of the Hebrew word Tarshish, which is referred to in the Hebrew Bible as a wealthy land at the western extremity of the known world. On Mars, Tharsis is a volcanically active region where a strange plume of subterranean rock could be causing the planet to spin faster.

Quote of the day

"America will never give up the Moon again."

Jared Isaacman, NASA administrator, on U.S. plans to build a permanent moon base.

Fun and games

NASA has announced its loftiest lunar ambitions yet. But how much do you know about the natural satellite that will host the space agency's hoped-for outpost? Take our quiz here.

Follow Live Science on social media

Want more science news? Follow our Live Science WhatsApp Channel for the latest discoveries as they happen. It's the best way to get our expert reporting on the go, but if you don't use WhatsApp we're also on Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), Flipboard, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Bluesky and LinkedIn.

Today's top story

Earth's climate imbalance breaks record

The world's climate is more out of balance than at any time in recorded history, the UN's weather agency said in a dire warning today.

We already know that human-released carbon emissions blanket Earth's atmosphere and increasingly trap more solar radiation than can be reemitted back into space, creating an imbalance that heats the planet. But a new report by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) has revealed that this process is happening faster than any time in history, with 2025 beating the previous record set the year before.

Much of the excess heat, roughly 91%, was absorbed by the oceans; another 5% heated the land; 3% went into ice and 1% into the air. The spillover effects of this planetary heating are also becoming more pronounced. This month alone there has been snow in Alabama, a record-shattering heatwave across the West, and flooding that has prompted evacuations in Hawaii.

The trend

Round 2 for Artemis II

NASA's Artemis II moon rocket is back on its launchpad as the space agency makes a final bid to launch the spacecraft before its April deadline.

This is the second time that the 322-foot-tall (98 meters) Space Launch System and Orion capsule stack has rolled out to the launchpad this year, the first having taken place on Jan. 17. But following two wet dress rehearsals and two leaks, NASA decided to wheel the rocket back to the Vehicle Assembly Building for repairs.

NASA is expected to announce further tests this week. If the fixes have worked as planned, the rocket could blast off as early as April 1.

Three to read

1. A new twist on matter? Strange 'Half-Mӧbius' molecule has rare properties chemists have never seen before [Live Science]
2. China could be the world’s biggest public funder of science within two years [Nature]
3. 5m tonnes of CO2 emitted in just 14 days of US war on Iran, analysis finds [The Guardian]

Say it, said it

Word of the day

Stereopsis — Greek for "solid sight", used to describe the forward-facing eyes of predators including cats, snakes and humans that judge distance by comparing the slight differences between their two views.

Quote of the day

"Our ability to adapt to our different environments and the cultural adaptations we see, the biological — that's our superpower. That's why there's 9 billion of us and not 9 billion of some other primate."

Herman Pontzer, a professor of evolutionary anthropology and global health at Duke University, on how humans used adaptability to take over the planet.

Fun and games

You're reading this on one kind of computer or another. But how much do you know about the history of the now-ubiquitous technology? Test your knowledge with this quiz.

Follow Live Science on social media

Want more science news? Follow our Live Science WhatsApp Channel for the latest discoveries as they happen. It's the best way to get our expert reporting on the go, but if you don't use WhatsApp we're also on Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), Flipboard, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Bluesky and LinkedIn.

NASA's Artemis II moon rocket is back on the move, as the space agency prepares the spacecraft for a potential launch before its April deadline.

This is the second time that the 322-foot-tall (98 meters) Space Launch System and Orion capsule stack has rolled out to the launchpad this year, the first having taken place on Jan. 17. But following two wet dress rehearsals and two leaks, NASA decided to wheel the rocket back to the Vehicle Assembly Building for repairs.

If the fixes have worked as planned, the rocket could blast off as early as April 1. It will take the mission's four-person crew, who went into quarantine this week, on a 10-day flight around the moon and back.

Embarking from the Vehicle Assembly Building to Launch Pad 39B at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the 11 million-pound (5 million kilograms) stack is trundling along at a speed of about 1 mph (1.6 km/h along a 4-mile (6.4 kilometers) route.

The journey is set to take up to 12 hours, with the trip delayed for several hours due to high winds, according to NASA.

Once at the pad, the rocket will undergo a series of final tests, including a wet dress rehearsal to fill the rocket with hydrogen fuel and oxygen oxidizer. If all of these hurdles are cleared, NASA will announce a date within the April window, which includes April 1 to 6 and also April 30, for a launch attempt.

In 2024, the space agency set April 2026 as the furthest deadline for the launch of Artemis II, after which the mission will be considered delayed.

This isn't the first time an Artemis rocket has had issues. The SLS rocket for the Artemis I mission went back to the Vehicle Assembly Building more than once in 2022, before eventually taking off and completing its uncrewed test flight around the moon later that year.

These cumulative delays led NASA to announce a major overhaul of the Artemis program with the agency now aiming for annual launches, potentially dropping SpaceX and Boeing from its mission plans, and targeting two lunar landings in 2028.

NASA claims its return to the moon for the first time since the Apollo era will be a vital test of its systems before attempting a future crewed mission to Mars and beyond.

Today's top story

Artemis II rolls out, again

NASA is set to roll its Artemis II moon rocket back to the launch pad today, as the mission's four-astronaut crew enters quarantine ahead of a planned April 1 liftoff.

This is the second rollout of the enormous Space Launch System (SLS) and the Orion capsule perched atop it, the first having taken place on Jan. 17. But following two wet dress rehearsals and two leaks, NASA decided to wheel the rocket back to the Vehicle Assembly Building for repairs.

And that wasn't the first time an Artemis rocket had been sent back to the shop. The Artemis I SLS rocket went back to the Vehicle Assembly Building more than once in 2022, before eventually taking off and completing its uncrewed test flight around the moon later that year. The cumulative delays led NASA to announce a major overhaul of the Artemis program with the agency now aiming for annual launches, potentially dropping SpaceX and Boeing from its mission plans, and targeting two lunar landings in 2028.

The trend

Auroring good time

The northern lights could be visible in the skies above 20 U.S. states near the Canadian border this week, after the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) issued a warning that two coronal mass ejections (CMEs) are due to strike Earth.

CMEs are plasma bursts ejected by the sun. If they clash with Earth's magnetic field they can trigger geomagnetic storms, disrupting satellites and communication systems, and causing auroras.

Thermospheric lightshows have been incredibly common this month, thanks to a hyperactive sun and Earth's side-on position relative to the sun during the spring equinox. Both phenomena have made March 2026 the best month for northern lights in nearly a decade.

Three to read

1. All 5 'letters' of DNA found on an asteroid speeding through our solar system. What do they tell us about the origins of life? [Live Science]
2. More than 150,000 uncounted COVID-19 deaths occurred early in the pandemic, a study finds [The Associated Press]
3. Iran war could push global food insecurity to record levels, leaving 363 million people hungry [Live Science]

Photo of the day

Don't talk to me or my fry ever again

Emperor cichlids, which dwell in east Africa's Lake Tanganyika, don't take kindly to being stared at — being more likely to attack human divers who gaze at them.

Interestingly, the fish also responded with equal aggression when divers looked at their eggs or hatched fry. This suggests they share the ability to infer intent from a gaze with primates and some birds.

Say it, said it

Word of the day

Doggerland — Named after a medieval Dutch fishing boat called a dogger, this now-sunken forest realm once connected Britain to mainland Europe during the last ice age.

Quote of the day

"We feed them tuna; like royalty, they dine on the ocean's top predators. In exchange, what do we get back?"

Rob Dunn, a professor of applied ecology at North Carolina State University, on our relationship with cats.

Fun and games

NASA is gearing up to return to the moon. But how quickly can you name all 12 Apollo astronauts who walked on the moon?

Follow Live Science on social media

Want more science news? Follow our Live Science WhatsApp Channel for the latest discoveries as they happen. It's the best way to get our expert reporting on the go, but if you don't use WhatsApp we're also on Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), Flipboard, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Bluesky and LinkedIn.

NASA's Artemis II mission will soon send astronauts on a trip around the moon, if the current plans hold. But why is the U.S. so eager to revisit the moon for the first time in more than 50 years?

NASA has promised that returning to the moon will lead to new scientific discoveries, bring economic benefits, and inspire a new generation of explorers. It's also no secret that China threatens to overtake the U.S. as the leader in space exploration, and the U.S. doesn't want to fall behind.

From a scientific perspective, humanity still has much to learn about the moon. Earth's natural satellite has a long history preserved in its rocks, and it could help researchers better understand our own planet, the solar system and the universe at large.

The moon and Earth are like twins that have been dancing around each other since the beginning of the solar system around 4.5 billion years ago, said Sara Russell, a planetary scientist at the Natural History Museum in London. This means they have a shared history of impacts from asteroids, comets and other objects,

"It just has this 4-and-a-half-billion-year record of what has happened on its surface," Russell told Live Science. "We can see how affected it has been by impacts, which have also happened to the Earth, but we don't see evidence for that on the Earth so easily."

Biological processes and weather-fueled erosion obscure Earth's impact history. The moon, on the other hand, has a thin atmosphere, no weather and no life, so its impact craters can be preserved almost indefinitely. These conditions also provide other research opportunities.

"It's kind of a great laboratory about what happens to geology if there isn't any water or air," Russell said. "We can understand these very fundamental [geological] processes much more easily in many cases by looking at them on the moon."

Artemis

Artemis II is the second of five initial missions in the Artemis program, which aims to establish a long-term U.S. presence on the moon for the first time. The inaugural Artemis mission, Artemis I, was an uncrewed 26-day flight around the moon in 2022. Artemis II is the first crewed spaceflight in the program and is scheduled to send four astronauts on a 10-day flight around the moon and back to Earth as soon as April 1.

Each Artemis mission is meant to build on its predecessor. Artemis I laid the groundwork for Artemis II, and Artemis II is about testing systems ahead of Artemis III, Artemis IV and Artemis V. The latter two missions aim to put astronauts on the lunar surface in 2028, with Artemis V laying the foundation for what NASA claims will be a permanent lunar base.

NASA famously took 12 astronauts to the lunar surface as part of the Apollo missions between 1969 and 1972. Russell noted that lunar samples collected during the Apollo missions have kept scientists busy for more than 50 years, but the Apollo astronauts explored only some of the lunar surface on the near side of the moon, and only its equatorial region.

"It's sort of like having several expeditions to the Sahara Desert and saying, OK, now we understand the Earth," Russell said. "That's why it's important to go back to the moon and, particularly, go to different areas. This is where Artemis is really exciting. The future Artemis mission will go to the lunar south pole, which is an area that really hasn't been explored before."

The moon's south pole is a prime location for water ice, which is thought to be concentrated in the polar regions of the lunar surface. Studying this water ice provides scientists with an opportunity to learn more about Earth's history with water.

"We want to know how the moon got that water, and the reason we want to know that is because how the moon got its water is probably how the Earth got its water," Russell said.

Traveling to the moon with a crew will also enable mission scientists to pursue another, perhaps more disturbing, goal of the Artemis program — investigating the effects of space travel on human physiology. The Artemis II flight is an opportunity for new studies of astronaut health, including how space travel influences the body, mind and behavior, and how those impacts could affect future missions, according to NASA. This is one of many ways the lunar missions are potential stepping stones to deeper space exploration.

That's because the Artemis program is meant to advance technologies and develop infrastructure that will be necessary for sending astronauts to Mars. Space exploration is difficult, dangerous and expensive, so NASA needs to test its systems and its astronauts on the moon before sending them to farther destinations. Establishing a lunar base could be key to traveling to Mars.

The moon has resources that should make space more accessible. For example, NASA has claimed that if it can harvest the moon's water, the space agency can use it to help make drinking water, oxygen and rocket fuel — although this remains unproven. Shooting for the moon fulfills a broader strategy to find and use resources off Earth, which could make space exploration cheaper because not everything is made on Earth and transported elsewhere.

Speaking of money, there's a potential lunar economy to consider. NASA has said that its moon strategy stimulates the commercial space industry and creates business opportunities in ways that could foster a lunar economy. The lunar economy currently stems from NASA working with private companies that provide commercial deliveries to support the space agency's mission. Essentially, NASA pays companies to take stuff to the moon. The space agency currently has 15 of these commercial lunar delivery contracts scheduled to be completed by 2028, according to NASA. However, once humans start colonizsing the moon, it could also open up valuable mining opportunities.

Moon mining has the potential to become a billion-dollar industry. The moon harbors resources like rare earth elements, which are mined for electronics on Earth, as well as a potential gold mine in its stocks of helium-3, which could eventually be used in nuclear fusion reactors to make near-limitless clean energy.

The new space race

While the initial space race was between the U.S. and the Soviet Union in the mid-20th century, nations are once again racing for control of the final frontier.

Although the U.S., China and Russia are the main competitors in the "new space race," more than 80 countries now have a presence in space, according to Royal Museums Greenwich in the U.K. Beyond commercial interests, access to space plays an increasingly important role in a nation's security ‪—‬ and so could the moon.

Robert Braun, head of the space exploration sector at Johns Hopkins University's Applied Physics Laboratory, recently described the moon as the "ultimate high ground." In a video released by the university, Braun said many nations are heading to the moon because there's a "nexus of security, exploration and economic objectives."

If the U.S. is to win this second race for the moon, then the upcoming Artemis missions will need to remain on schedule. China wants to land its own astronauts on the moon before 2030, which is at most two years after the first Artemis lunar surface missions, assuming they are a success.

NASA says it has fixed the helium problem on its Artemis II rocket, which the space agency plans to launch to the moon within weeks.

Artemis II is scheduled to fly four astronauts around the moon on a historic journey that will take humans farther into space than ever before. However, a helium-flow issue discovered in the upper stage of the mission's Space Launch System (SLS) rocket last month delayed the mission for the second time this year.

Engineers have now determined that a dislodged seal was obstructing the helium and made repairs, according to a NASA statement. The space agency expects to continue working on the rocket in the coming weeks ‪—‬ for example, by swapping out batteries in the rocket’s self-destruct system and elsewhere —‬ before returning it to a launchpad at Florida's Kennedy Space Center in time to target an April launch.

The April launch windows for Artemis II include April 1, April 3-6, and April 30. This will be NASA's last chance to launch the rocket on time; the mission is meant to lift off no later than April 30.

Artemis II is NASA's first attempt to send humans back to the moon in more than 50 years. The mission will also send a woman and a Black man to the moon for the first time. While Artemis II won't land on the moon, NASA wants to use the 10-day flight to test systems and gather data before two crewed missions to the lunar surface scheduled for 2028.

The Artemis program has experienced numerous setbacks, including a string of hydrogen leaks. This also isn't the first time an Artemis rocket has returned to the shop for repairs. The Artemis I SLS rocket went back to the Vehicle Assembly Building more than once in 2022, before eventually taking off and completing its uncrewed test flight around the moon.

The delays led NASA to announce a major overhaul of the Artemis program last Friday (Feb. 27), with the agency now targeting annual launches, potentially dropping SpaceX and Boeing from its mission plans, and targeting two lunar landings in 2028.

Expectations for a March launch of Artemis II were high after the rocket completed an important fueling test Feb. 19. Staff demonstrated their ability to safely fuel the SLS with more than 700,000 gallons (2.6 million liters) of cryogenic propellants — supercold liquid hydrogen fuel and liquid oxygen oxidizer — and complete a simulated launch.

Then, on the night of Feb. 20-21, what NASA has now identified as a dislodged seal prevented helium from flowing to the rocket's upper stage, forcing the agency to scrub the launch and roll its rocket back to Kennedy Space Center's Vehicle Assembly Building.

Helium is important because NASA uses it to control environmental conditions in the upper stage's engine and to pressurize fuel tanks. With repairs made to the seal, engineers hope the helium can do its job unimpeded from here on out.

NASA was aiming for a short turnaround with its rollback to keep the April launch windows open. For now, the space agency seems on track for a spring launch.

NASA has announced a sweeping overhaul to its Artemis program, saying that the agency's plan to return astronauts to the moon by 2028 would not be achievable without an additional flight in 2027.

The new plan, outlined by NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman at a Friday (Feb. 27) news conference, includes yearly crewed launches and the scrapping of the Boeing-developed Exploration Upper Stage.

The announcement comes just after the Artemis program suffered its latest setback, an upper-stage helium leak which forced engineers to abandon a March Artemis II launch attempt and haul the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket back to the Kennedy Space Center's Vehicle Assembly building for fixes.

This issue; plus a string of hydrogen leaks to this rocket and its predecessor; and other considerations about the readiness of core mission technologies, have all contributed to NASA's changed plan. According to Isaacman, the adjustment will rebuild NASA's civil servant workforce and restore core capabilities before a moon landing is attempted.

"Right now our program is essentially set up with Apollo 8 then going right to the moon," Isaacman said at the news conference. "That is not a pathway to success."

What's changing?

NASA announced several major changes to the timeline of the Artemis program, most notably adding a new step between the upcoming Artemis II mission, which will send astronauts on a round-trip around the moon, and a future mission to land humans on the lunar surface for the first time in more than 50 years.

Originally, NASA planned to land a team of astronauts on the moon during the next phase of the Artemis mission, dubbed Artemis III. The crewed lunar landing was initially scheduled for 2026, but has faced numerous delays, recently being pushed back to 2028 at the earliest.

NASA still hopes to land humans on the moon in early 2028, officials said at the briefing, but that mission will now be called Artemis IV. It will also be followed by another crewed landing attempt in late 2028 called Artemis V. In the meantime, the newly retooled Artemis III mission will instead test the Orion crew capsule's ability to dock with a lunar lander in orbit.

Looking to launch in mid-2027, the new Artemis III mission would launch a crew into low-Earth orbit aboard NASA's SLS rocket, then dock the Orion capsule with a lander manufactured by either SpaceX or Blue Origin, two private partners working with NASA.

Adding this additional step to the Artemis campaign puts it more in line with the progression of the Apollo missions — the ten-day Apollo 9 mission tested a docking between the team's command module and lunar lander in low-Earth orbit — before the Apollo 11 mission ultimately landed humans on the moon.

Why is NASA doing this?

This extra step will significantly reduce the risks of a lunar landing, according to Ars Technica, allowing the NASA team to test the handling of the lunar lander, the process of rendezvous and docking the two spacecraft, communications, spacesuit performance and more.

Despite the extra steps, NASA hopes to keep up a brisk pace that will still put American astronauts back on the moon before any other space-faring nations (particularly China) have the chance to.

"If you want a history tidbit, look at the time when Apollo 7 splashed down to when Apollo 8 launched, you're approximately two months apart. We need to start going back to basics and moving in this direction," Isaacman said. "We're going to endeavour to get our launches within a year. Specifically, down to potentially ten months."

Following the Artemis IV return to the moon, NASA intends to continue annual lunar rocket launches into the foreseeable future, Isaacman added.

Editor’s note: This story has been updated to include a NASA announcement that Artemis II's targeted rollback will now be on Wednesday (Feb. 25), a day later than initially planned, due to windy weather.

NASA has delayed its historic Artemis II lunar mission again after the space agency's moon rocket experienced a helium flow issue overnight Friday (Feb. 20-21).

Artemis II was due to fly four astronauts around the moon as early as next week, but now, it will launch no earlier than April.

Engineers encountered a problem with helium flow to the upper stage of Artemis II's Space Launch System (SLS) rocket. NASA uses helium to control environmental conditions in the upper stage's engine and to pressurize fuel tanks, so it's essential for it to flow properly.

To resolve the issue, NASA has announced that it will take the rocket and Orion spacecraft off a launchpad at Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida and roll them back to KSC's Vehicle Assembly Building as early as Wednesday (Feb. 25).

"Returning to the Vehicle Assembly Building at Kennedy is required to determine the cause of the issue and fix it," a NASA spokesperson said in a statement.

The Artemis Program has experienced numerous issues and setbacks, including a string of hydrogen leaks. Still, this latest delay will be particularly disappointing for space enthusiasts who were hoping to see Artemis II fly after it appeared to clear a critical fueling rehearsal Thursday (Feb. 19).

NASA said the SLS systems worked fine during Thursday’s wet dress rehearsal, when staff demonstrated the systems' ability to safely fuel more than 700,000 gallons (2.6 million liters) of cryogenic propellants — supercold liquid hydrogen fuel and liquid oxygen oxidizer — and completed a simulated launch. The test’s success led to an ebullient news conference from NASA on Friday (Feb. 20).

"Every night I look up at the Moon and I see it, and I get real excited because I can feel she's calling us and we're ready," Lori Glaze, NASA's Moon to Mars program manager, said at the conference. "The excitement for Artemis II is really, really starting to build, we can really start to feel it. It's coming."

But Artemis' wings were soon clipped that same day, after an issue with the helium system on the rocket's upper stage meant that "the team was unable to get helium flow through the vehicle," NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman wrote in an update on X Saturday. Helium is used on the SLS upper stage (officially called the Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage) to purge its engine and pressurize its propellant tanks.

NASA is currently investigating potential causes of the helium flow problem, which includes looking at the interface between the ground and rocket lines used to route helium, as well as examining a filter between the ground and rocket and a valve in the upper stage. The agency said it is also reviewing data from Artemis I, the uncrewed precursor to Artemis II, which had an issue with helium-related pressurization before its launch in 2022.

The Artemis II SLS rocket returned to the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) before eventually taking off in November 2022, so this latest development doesn't mean Artemis II won't fly. NASA is hoping the rollback will have a short turnaround, to keep the April launch window open. However, spaceflight is a difficult and delicate process, and there's no guarantee that Artemis II will fly in April, either. Additional Artemis II updates are expected this week.

"The quick work to begin preparations for rolling the rocket and spacecraft back to the VAB potentially preserves the April launch window, pending the outcome of data findings, repair efforts, and how the schedule comes to fruition in the coming days and weeks," NASA wrote in its update.

Artemis II will be a historic mission if and when it eventually takes off, marking the first time NASA is sending humans back to the moon for more than 50 years and first time ever that NASA is sending a woman and a Black man as part of a lunar crew.

NASA will use the 10-day flight around the moon to test systems and gather data ahead of the Artemis III mission, which aims to land astronauts on the moon in 2028. NASA wants to establish a long-term presence on the moon with the Artemis Program and ultimately make the moon a stepping stone for sending astronauts to Mars.

The April launch windows for Artemis II include April 1, April 3 to 6, and April 30. The mission is meant to launch no later than April 30.

NASA is set to fuel the Artemis II rocket once more for a "wet dress rehearsal" on Thursday (Feb. 19) in preparation for its historic launch to the moon.

The fueling test will be NASA's second try at a wet dress rehearsal to fuel its Space Launch System (SLS) rocket after hydrogen leaks plagued the first attempt earlier this month.

The first wet dress rehearsal, which took place on the night of Feb. 2, was scrubbed with roughly 5 minutes left on the countdown clock, after NASA finished fueling and was closing in on a simulated launch. The ground launch sequencer (a software program that automates command and control procedures) halted the countdown because of a spike in the liquid hydrogen leak rate.

NASA traced the issue to two seals surrounding the fuelling lines, which have since been fixed. Yet the headaches continued following the premature ending of a Feb. 12 "confidence test" due to another problem that reduced the fuel flow to the rocket. NASA said in a statement that its engineers have replaced a filter that was suspected of disrupting hydrogen flow.

"Considering the issues observed during the lead-up to Artemis I, and the long duration between missions, we should not be surprised there are challenges entering the Artemis II campaign," NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman wrote on the social platform X on Saturday (Feb. 14). "That does not excuse the situation, but we understand it. I am impressed with the NASA team and our contractors working diligently through the campaign."

A historic mission

Artemis II is scheduled to take four astronauts on a 10-day trip around the moon. This is the first time NASA is sending humans back to the moon in more than 50 years, and the first time that a woman and a Black man will be part of a lunar crew. If the trip is a success, then NASA will have tested systems and gathered data ahead of the Artemis III mission, which aims to land astronauts on the moon in 2028.

NASA wants to establish a long-term presence on the moon through the Artemis Program, eventually using the lunar surface as a stepping stone to Mars. However, spaceflight is a difficult and delicate process, and that's been repeatedly shown during the Artemis Program.

Hydrogen fuelling remains a key issue. The lightest element has been NASA's fuel of choice since the Apollo program, but it's also notorious for leaking — passing through solid metals by diffusing through their atomic lattices. To complicate matters further, hydrogen has a boiling point of minus 423 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 253 Celsius, or 20 kelvins), so NASA has to keep it extremely cold, at temperatures that can then freeze seals.

In 2022, NASA's flagship Space Launch System (SLS) rocket returned to the Vehicle Assembly Building twice due to hydrogen leaks and other technical issues that arose during rehearsals for Artemis I, an uncrewed flight around the moon that eventually took off in November 2022. NASA is now experiencing similar problems with Artemis II.

NASA had already reported some other issues during the first rehearsal, including audio communications dropouts, problems with a replaced valve on the crew capsule and another hydrogen leak, which was blamed on cold weather and resolved by engineers warming up some components.

To pass the wet dress rehearsal on Thursday, NASA will have to demonstrate its ability to safely fuel more than 700,000 gallons (2.6 million liters) of its hydrogen-based cryogenic propellant and complete a simulated launch. This will include closing hatches on the Orion spacecraft, which the Artemis II crew will ride in on their trip to the moon.

Once NASA has a successful wet dress rehearsal, the space agency can proceed to a flight-readiness review before committing to a launch date for Artemis II. The March launch windows include March 6 to 9 and March 11. If Artemis II doesn't fly on one of those days, it will be delayed until April, with the mission meant to launch no later than April 30.

NASA is gearing up for a simulated launch of the Artemis II mega moon rocket tonight after cold weather pushed back the mission's earliest potential lift-off to later this week.

Artemis II and its four-person crew will now leave Earth for the moon as early as Sunday (Feb. 8), two days later than the previous earliest window, according to a statement released by NASA.

The delay stems from a wave of Arctic air that has brought extreme cold to the U.S. in recent weeks. The cold blast has negatively impacted conditions at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, where the rocket is currently sitting on a launch pad.

"Over the past several days, engineers have been closely monitoring conditions as cold weather and winds move through Florida," a NASA spokesperson wrote in the statement. "Managers have assessed hardware capabilities against the projected forecast given the rare arctic outbreak affecting the state and decided to change the timeline."

NASA needs to get through a simulated launch before the space agency can proceed with an actual launch. The simulated launch is part of a "wet dress rehearsal," during which engineers test fueling the Artemis II rocket. This was originally scheduled for as early as Jan. 31, but NASA is now targeting Monday (Feb. 2), with the simulated launch window beginning at 9 p.m. ET. The space agency said that the test is expected to go on until around 1 a.m. ET (Feb. 3).

Any date that NASA targets for a test or launch is subject to change. The tricky nature of space travel means that delays are often part of the process, so we can expect NASA to postpone the earliest launch window again if weather conditions aren't favorable, or if technical issues emerge. The potential launch windows for Artemis II extend to no later than April 2026.

The Artemis Program is no stranger to delays. Artemis I returned to NASA's Vehicle Assembly Building twice in 2022 following issues during wet dress rehearsals. The uncrewed rocket ultimately took off during NASA's fourth attempt at a launch in November 2022. Artemis II has already been delayed multiple times, in part so that mission engineers can better understand issues that arose during Artemis I.

Artemis II's upcoming mission is the first time in more than 50 years that NASA is sending humans to the moon, and the first time that a woman will be part of the crew. The mission's Orion spacecraft will loop around the moon on a 10-day flight, testing systems ahead of the Artemis III lunar surface mission, which is scheduled for 2028.

NASA wheeled out Artemis II's Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion spacecraft on Jan. 17. With a 212-foot-tall (65 meters) core stage and a total height of 322 feet (98 m) with the Orion crew capsule on top, the structure is taller than the Statue of Liberty.

Engineers have kept Orion powered on with its heaters running during the cold weather, according to NASA. The space agency previously noted that its engineers have been troubleshooting issues in the lead-up to launch. For example, they worked on leaky ground-support hardware that is needed to supply Orion with oxygen.

Once Artemis II clears the wet dress rehearsal and simulated launch stage, NASA will conduct a flight readiness review before committing to a launch date.

NASA intends to send three of its astronauts on Artemis II: Commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover and mission specialist Christina Koch, along with Canadian Space Agency astronaut and mission specialist Jeremy Hansen.

The crew has been in quarantine in Houston since Jan. 23. Astronauts go into quarantine ahead of a launch so that they don't pick up any illnesses that could delay their mission. NASA plans to fly the crew to Florida about six days ahead of launch. However, in the statement announcing the delay, NASA said its managers were "assessing the timeline" for the crew's arrival.

NASA hopes that the Artemis Program will lead to a sustained presence on the moon and serve as a stepping stone for sending humans to Mars.

NASA will simulate a test launch of its Artemis II mega moon rocket as early as Saturday (Jan. 31), with the space agency announcing its engineers are on track or ahead of schedule.

The Artemis II mission, which could launch as early as Feb. 6, aims to send humans around the moon in preparation for the subsequent Artemis III mission that will land astronauts on its surface. This is the first time in more than 50 years that NASA is sending humans back to the moon, and the first time that a woman will be part of the crew.

The Artemis Program aims to put humans on the lunar surface by 2028. Artemis II is the first crewed spaceflight in the program and, assuming all goes to plan, will see four astronauts take a 10-day flight around the moon and back to Earth, testing systems ahead of the Artemis III lunar surface mission.

The upcoming simulated test launch is part of the final preparations NASA will undergo before confirming a launch date for Artemis II. The simulated launch will be preceded by a "wet dress rehearsal," during which engineers will test fueling the Artemis II rocket.

NASA wheeled out the mission’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion spacecraft on Jan. 17. The rocket and spacecraft are currently sitting on a launch pad at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. With a 212-foot-tall (65 meters) core stage and a total height of 322 feet (98 m) with the Orion crew capsule on top, the structure is taller than the Statue of Liberty.

During the wet dress rehearsal, NASA's crew will demonstrate its ability to fill the rocket with more than 700,000 gallons (2.6 million liters) of cryogenic propellants. The rehearsal will also include a countdown to the simulated launch, scheduled for 9 p.m. EST. However, the tests could go on until around 1 a.m. EST, according to NASA.

The space agency noted that temperatures in Florida are lower than expected due to the Arctic blast currently hitting the U.S. Technicians are therefore taking steps to ensure environmental control systems keeping the SLS rocket and Orion at the appropriate temperature can handle the cold.

NASA's staff is also working on other issues, including Orion's potable water system, which initial samples revealed had higher levels of organic carbon than expected. This water system will supply drinking water to the Artemis II crew, according to the space agency.

Artemis II's four-person crew includes three NASA astronauts: Commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, and mission specialist Christina Koch. The fourth member of the crew is Canadian Space Agency astronaut and mission specialist Jeremy Hansen.

The crew started quarantining in Houston Jan. 23, according to NASA. Astronauts go into quarantine ahead of a launch to ensure they don't get infected by illnesses that could delay their mission. NASA plans to fly the crew to Florida about six days ahead of launch.

The Artemis mission has previously experienced delays. For example, Artemis I returned to NASA's Vehicle Assembly Building twice in 2022 following issues during wet dress rehearsals. The rocket ultimately took off during NASA's fourth attempt at a launch in November 2022. As with all spaceflight missions, any date NASA proposes for a test or launch is subject to change. The potential launch windows for Artemis II extend to no later than April 2026.

If Artemis II makes a successful trip around the moon, then NASA will have tested systems and hardware needed for sending astronauts on increasingly difficult future missions to the lunar surface and beyond. The space agency plans to establish a sustained presence on the moon, which it claims will serve as a stepping stone for future missions to Mars.

NASA's first mission to take humans to the moon in half a century is creeping ever closer.

The space agency has announced that the rollout of its Artemis 2 Space Launch System rocket and Orion Module will begin Saturday (Jan. 17) no earlier than 7 a.m. ET, ahead of a launch as early as Feb. 6.

Embarking from the Vehicle Assembly Building to Launch Pad 39B at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the 11 million-pound (5 million kilograms) stack will be transported at a speed of about 1 mph (1.6 km/h along a 4-mile (6.4 kilometers) route — a journey that will take up to 12 hours and be streamed live on NASA's Youtube channel.

"We are moving closer to Artemis II, with rollout just around the corner," Lori Glaze, the acting associate administrator for NASA's Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate, said in a statement released Jan. 9. "We have important steps remaining on our path to launch and crew safety will remain our top priority at every turn, as we near humanity's return to the Moon."

A historic mission to the moon

Artemis 2 is the first crewed spaceflight in the Artemis Program, which aims to send humans back to the moon for the first time since 1972. Four astronauts will take a 10-day flight around the moon and back to Earth, testing systems ahead of the Artemis 3 mission, which aims to deliver astronauts to the lunar surface by 2028.

The Space Launch System is the most powerful rocket ever built. Standing 212 feet (65 meters) tall, its core stage is capable of generating 8.8 million pounds (3.9 million kg) of thrust to launch the Orion capsule mounted atop it into space.

The more than 700,000 gallons (2.6 million liters) of cryogenic propellant set to provide the rocket's thrust will be tested by NASA during a wet dress rehearsal at the end of January. The prelaunch test will also include things like a launch countdown, practice removing the rocket propellant, and safety procedures. If all goes to plan, NASA will then conduct a flight-readiness review before committing to a launch date.

If the rocket does launch in February, it will do so 15 months later than it was initially scheduled. NASA says the delay is due to the Orion capsule needing additional prep time before it can safely carry a human crew.

Despite these delays, NASA remains confident that the Artemis mission will launch in time to beat China in the race to send a crewed mission to the moon. China has recently landed rovers on the moon and Mars and completed construction of its Tiangong space station in 2022. The country is also leading construction efforts of an International Lunar Research Station, which is slated for completion by 2030.

NASA is on track to send humans around the moon as early as Feb. 6 as it makes final preparations for the imminent rollout of its Artemis 2 mega moon rocket.

The Artemis Program aims to send humans back to the moon for the first time in more than 50 years. The program will also take the first woman to the moon.

Artemis 2 is the first crewed spaceflight in the mission program. Four astronauts will take a 10-day flight around the moon and back to Earth, testing systems ahead of the Artemis 3 mission, which aims to deliver astronauts to the lunar surface by 2028.

"We are moving closer to Artemis II, with rollout just around the corner," Lori Glaze, the acting associate administrator for NASA's Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate, said in a statement released Jan. 9. "We have important steps remaining on our path to launch and crew safety will remain our top priority at every turn, as we near humanity's return to the Moon."

NASA previously announced that the launch window for Artemis 2 could be as soon as Feb. 5, 2026, but no later than April 2026. However, the Artemis mission has previously experienced delays and, as with all spaceflight missions, the latest proposed dates are subject to change.

In preparation for the test flight, NASA is planning to move the giant Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion spacecraft, which will hold the crew, to the launch pad at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida no earlier than Saturday (Jan. 17). The rocket has a 212-foot-tall (65 meters) core stage and will stand 322 feet (98 m) tall — higher than the Statue of Liberty — when capped with the crew capsule.

The distance between NASA's Vehicle Assembly Building and the launch pad is only 4 miles (6 kilometers), but moving massive rockets is a slow and delicate process, and the journey is expected to take up to 12 hours, according to the statement.

NASA will delay the rollout if weather conditions are unfavorable or there are technical issues. The space agency noted that its engineers have been troubleshooting in the lead-up to launch. For example, they worked on leaky ground support hardware that is needed to supply Orion with oxygen.

After the rollout, NASA plans to run a wet dress rehearsal at the end of January. This is a prelaunch test to fuel the rocket, which is composed of more than 700,000 gallons (2.6 million liters) of cryogenic propellants. The test will also include things like a launch countdown, practice removing the rocket propellant, and safety procedures. Assuming all goes well, NASA will then conduct a flight readiness review before committing to a launch date.

The space agency wants to have a sustained presence on the moon as part of the Artemis Program, with the moon also serving as a stepping stone to the ultimate goal of putting humans on Mars.

NASA has announced further delays to its Artemis program, which promises to return astronauts to the moon for the first time since 1972.

The Artemis 2 mission, originally slated to launch astronauts around the moon and back in September 2025, has been pushed back to April 2026. And the follow-up, Artemis 3, once targeted for late 2026, will be moved to mid 2027, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said at a news conference on Thursday (Dec. 5).

This means that Artemis 2 will launch around 17 months after it was initially scheduled. NASA says the delay is due to the Orion capsule — which sits atop the 30-story Space Launch System (SLS) — needing additional prep time before it can safely carry a human crew.

"We and our industry and international partners need this time to make sure that our own capsule is ready to safely deliver our astronauts to deep space and back to Earth," Nelson said. "We do not fly until we are confident that we have made the flight as safe as possible for the humans on board. We need to do this next test flight, and we need to do it right."

The SLS is the largest NASA rocket since the Apollo program's Saturn V rocket. It has a liquid hydrogen and oxygen core booster with two smaller rocket boosters attached to its sides.

Related: NASA announces Artemis astronauts who will fly to the moon for the 1st time in 50 years

For the Artemis 1 flight in November, 2022, the rocket sent the Orion capsule on a six-day, 69 mile-high (111 kilometers) flyby of the moon's surface, enabling NASA engineers to gather vital data on the module's trajectory and the effects of low gravity on three humanoid mannequins that were on board.

Then, upon its dramatic return through Earth's atmosphere at 32 times the speed of sound, the capsule's heat shield was put to the test. The extreme air friction and its parachute slowed the spacecraft to just 20 mph (32.2 km/h), after which it plopped down off the coast of Baja California, Mexico, in the Pacific Ocean.

After examining the Orion capsule, NASA engineers discovered that the Lockheed Martin-manufactured spacecraft's heat shield had been cracked and partially eroded as it bounced off the atmosphere during the capsule's reentry.

"While the capsule was dipping in and out of the atmosphere as part of that planned skip entry, heat accumulated inside the heat shield outer layer, leading to gases forming and becoming trapped inside the heat shield," Pam Melroy, NASA's Deputy Administrator, said at the news conference. "This caused internal pressure to build up and led to cracking and uneven shedding of that outer layer."

NASA won't replace this heat shield for the Artemis 2 mission, but other technical issues with the craft — including its battery and life support systems — prompted the space agency to call for a six-month delay.

Despite these problems, Nelson insisted that the mission will launch in time to beat China in the race to send a crewed mission to the moon. China has recently landed rovers on the moon and Mars and completed construction of its Tiangong space station in 2022. The country is also leading construction efforts of an International Lunar Research Station, which is slated for completion by 2030.

"Assuming the SpaceX lander is ready, we plan to launch Artemis III in mid-2027," Nelson said. "That will be well ahead of the Chinese government's announced intention to land on the lunar surface by 2030."

NASA leaders have announced they are pushing back two of the agency's flagship Artemis missions — Artemis II and Artemis III — amid safety concerns.

Artemis II, which will send four astronauts on a round trip around the moon and was originally scheduled for November 2024, is now slated to lift off in September 2025. The timeline for Artemis III, which plans to land the crew on the moon's south pole, has shifted to make sure lessons learned from Artemis II can be incorporated into Artemis III. Originally targeted for late 2025, NASA now aims to launch Artemis III in September 2026, agency leaders announced on Tuesday (Jan. 9).

"Safety is our top priority, and to give Artemis teams more time to work through the challenges with first-time developments, operations and integration, we're going to give more time on Artemis II and III," NASA administrator Bill Nelson said in a news briefing. 

Artemis IV — the planned first mission to a moon-orbiting space station known as Gateway — remains on track to lift off in September 2028, Nelson said.

Related: NASA shares incredible footage of Artemis I capsule hurtling through Earth's atmosphere after historic moon voyage

The primary reason for rescheduling the Artemis missions is to ensure crew safety, NASA representatives said. Artemis II will be the first flight test with astronauts aboard the Orion spacecraft and will require all environmental control and life support systems to be reliable. Recent testing has uncovered issues with a circuitry component responsible for air ventilation and temperature control, however. This, as well as a battery issue, will require more time to resolve than the original Artemis schedule allowed, according to a statement.

NASA is also investigating the unexpected loss of protective material from the Orion spacecraft's heat shield during its Artemis I mission, which launched in November 2022 and was completed in December. 

"We've learned a lot since Artemis I," Nelson said in the statement. "We are returning to the moon in a way we never have before, and the safety of our astronauts is NASA's top priority as we prepare for future Artemis missions."

The astronauts selected for Artemis II and III include the first woman and person of color to land on the moon. 

"Artemis is a long-term exploration campaign to conduct science at the moon with astronauts and prepare for future human missions to Mars," Amit Kshatriya, the deputy associate administrator for the Moon to Mars Program in the Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate, said in the statement. "That means we must get it right as we develop and fly our foundational systems so that we can safely carry out these missions." 

NASA has announced the names of the four astronauts who will be flying to the moon for the first time since 1972.

The astronauts, who will fly on the historic Artemis 2 mission, are Reid Wiseman, Christina Hammock Koch and Victor Glover from the United States, and Jeremy Hansen from Canada. Strapped to the world’s most powerful rocket, they will embark on a 10-day journey to the moon and back in November 2024.

Artemis 2 is the second of three missions designed to test out the hardware, software and ground systems intended to one day establish a base on the moon and transport the first humans to Mars. Artemis 1, the first test flight, launched in November 2022, sending the uncrewed Orion capsule fixed to its top on a 26-day, 1.4 million-mile (2.3 million kilometers) round trip to the moon. Artemis 2’s human crew will take a similar trip, before Artemis 3, scheduled for 2025 or 2026, will send the first woman and the first person of color to land on the lunar south pole.

Related: How long will it take for humans to colonize another planet?

"Together we will usher in a new era of exploration for a new generation of star sailors and dreamers — the Artemis generation," NASA administrator Bill Nelson said at a news conference on Monday (Apr. 3). "Together we are going — to the moon, to Mars and beyond."

Reid Wiseman, the mission’s commander, is a captain in the United States Navy who in 2014 spent 165 days in orbit aboard the International Space Station (ISS). Victor Glover, who will be Artemis 2’s pilot, piloted the first mission of SpaceX’s Crew Dragon capsule to the ISS in November 2020. Victor lived on the ISS for 168 days and was the first Black man to be a crew member on the station. 

Christina Hammock Koch, a mission specialist, holds the record for the longest stay by a woman in space — spending 328 days on the ISS — and with another female astronaut, Jessica Meir, completed the first all-woman spacewalk in 2019. The fourth astronaut aboard the mission will be Jeremy Hansen, a mission specialist selected by the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) for the flight. Hansen, who was a fighter pilot in the Canadian Armed Forces, will go to space for the first time with the mission.

Artemis 2’s journey will be slightly shorter than its predecessor’s, taking the crew on a maximum 10 day voyage beyond the moon and back. The exact distance they will travel away from Earth has yet to be confirmed, but it could take the astronauts farther from Earth than any human has ever gone before, according to NASA.

After slingshotting around the moon, Artemis 2’s Orion capsule will hurtle through Earth’s atmosphere at red-hot temperatures before splashing down in the Pacific Ocean.

Koch said at the news conference that once they have launched from Kennedy Space Station, the astronauts will enter high orbit around Earth, testing out all of Orion’s systems to see how it maneuvers in space. Then, if everything looks good, they will head for the moon.

"It will be a four-day journey, going a quarter of a million miles [400,000 km]," Koch said. "Continuing to test out every bit of Orion; going around the far side of the Moon; heading home; going through the Earth's atmosphere at over 25,000 miles per hour [40,000 km/h] and splashing down in the Pacific. So am I excited? Absolutely."