Artemis II launch: NASA prepares for Wednesday launch of historic space mission

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.

Patrick Pester

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.

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

Harry Baker

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.

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.

Ben Turner