What NASA mission, the first crewed mission around the Moon since Apollo 17, is targeted to launch no earlier than April 1, 2026?

The next significant step in humanity's return to lunar exploration is the Artemis II mission. This mission is poised to be the first crewed journey around the Moon since Apollo 17 in 1972, marking a new era in spaceflight. Targeted to launch no earlier than April 1, 2026, Artemis II will send four astronauts aboard the Orion spacecraft, propelled by the powerful Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, on a roughly 10-day voyage around the Moon and back to Earth.

Apollo 17, which concluded in December 1972, was the final mission of the Apollo program and the last time humans walked on the lunar surface. Over five decades later, Artemis II serves as a critical test flight, designed to verify the performance of the Orion spacecraft's systems with a crew in deep space, beyond low Earth orbit. While it will not land on the Moon, the mission will send its crew farther from Earth than any previous human mission, testing vital life support, navigation, and communication systems in real flight conditions.

The crew for this historic mission includes NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch, alongside Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen. Christina Koch will become the first woman, and Victor Glover the first person of color, to travel around the Moon, while Jeremy Hansen will be the first Canadian to venture to lunar space. This mission is a crucial part of NASA's larger Artemis program, which aims to establish a sustainable human presence on the Moon and utilize it as a stepping stone for future crewed missions to Mars.