Artemis II

Artemis II was a crewed flyby of the Moon. It was the first crewed flight of the NASA-led Artemis program and the first crewed flight beyond low Earth orbit since Apollo 17 in 1972. Artemis II was the second flight of the Space Launch System (SLS) and the first crewed flight of the Orion spacecraft, named Integrity by the four-person crew.

Christina Hammock Koch is an American engineer and NASA astronaut. On her mission to the International Space Station in 2019–20 she was part of the first all‑female spacewalk and set the record for the longest spaceflight by a woman. On the Artemis II lunar flyby mission in April 2026, which set the record for human distance from Earth, Koch became the first woman to travel beyond low Earth orbit and to travel around the Moon.

Gregory Reid Wiseman is an American naval aviator and NASA astronaut. He was the commander of the 2026 Artemis II lunar flyby mission, the first crewed flight around the Moon since Apollo 17 in 1972. He served as the 17th chief of the Astronaut Office from 2020 to 2022.

Victor Jerome Glover Jr. is an American naval officer, test pilot, and NASA astronaut of the 2013 class. A former F/A‑18 pilot and graduate of the United States Air Force Test Pilot School, in 2020, he piloted the first operational flight of SpaceX's Crew Dragon to the International Space Station. Glover served as a flight engineer on Expedition 64 and became the first Black American astronaut to live aboard the ISS. In April 2026, Glover piloted the Artemis II mission, during which he became the first person of color to travel to the vicinity of the Moon, and one of the four humans who have travelled the farthest from Earth.

Jeremy Roger Hansen is a Royal Canadian Air Force colonel and CSA astronaut. As a mission specialist on Artemis II in April 2026, he became the first non‑U.S. citizen to travel beyond low Earth orbit and the first to journey to the vicinity of the Moon. He is also among the humans who have travelled the farthest from Earth, having broken Apollo 13's distance record with the rest of the Artemis II crew.

2026 photograph of the Earth during the Artemis II mission

Canadian astronaut

photograph taken by NASA astronaut Reid Wiseman

lunar impact crater

American engineer and NASA astronaut

lunar impact crater