What NASA mission, set to launch around April 1, 2026, will send astronauts on an approximately 10-day journey around the Moon?

NASA's upcoming mission to send astronauts on an approximately 10-day journey around the Moon, with a launch targeted for around April 1, 2026, is known as Artemis II. This historic flight marks a significant step in humanity's return to lunar exploration, serving as the first crewed test flight of the agency's powerful Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion spacecraft. The mission will not land on the Moon, but instead perform a lunar flyby, demonstrating the capabilities of the spacecraft and its systems in deep space.

The four-person crew for Artemis II includes NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch, alongside Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen. This mission is critical for validating the Orion spacecraft's life support systems, communications, navigation, and other vital operations in a deep-space environment. It will be the first time humans have ventured beyond low Earth orbit since Apollo 17 in 1972, paving the way for future lunar landings and eventual human missions to Mars.

Artemis II builds upon the success of Artemis I, an uncrewed test flight that successfully orbited the Moon in late 2022, proving the readiness of the SLS rocket and Orion capsule for human spaceflight. The broader Artemis program aims to establish a long-term human presence on the Moon, including a lunar base, and utilize this experience as a stepping stone for sending astronauts to Mars.