Artemis II will send America back to the moon for the first time in 50+ years — but first, a journey to the dark side
By Alex Oliveira
Published April 1, 2026, 6:45 a.m. ET
America is headed back to the moon for the first time in more than 50 years this week if all goes well on NASA’s Cape Canaveral launchpad.
But first, four astronauts have to go to the dark side of the moon on a perilous 10-day voyage.
Artemis II is scheduled to blast off from Florida as early as 6:24 p.m. EST Wednesday on an epic mission not seen since Apollo 17 left the moon in 1972.
The launch will send four astronauts — three Americans and one Canadian — loaded into a cramped spacecraft on a series of Earth orbits, before firing away for a loop around the moon and then heading home for a Pacific Ocean splashdown.
Artemis II’s flightpath will follow a figure-eight trajectory, which will utilize the moon’s gravitational field to slingshot the capsule back to Earth across the roughly 240,000 miles of space separating the two bodies.
From left, Artemis II Pilot Victor Glover, Mission Specialist Christina Koch, and Commander Reid Wiseman from NASA, along with Mission Specialist Jeremy Hansen, from the CSA (Canadian Space Agency), place their Artemis II mission insignia on the outside door the Neil A. Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Monday, March 30, 2026.
Artemis II will test the life support systems and maneuvering capabilities of the Orion command module designed for upcoming moon-landings.
Then if all goes well, 2027’s Artemis III will stay in Earth’s orbit and give astronauts practice rendezvousing with the new lunar landers.
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https://nypost.com/2026/04/01/us-news/artemis-ii-will-send-america-back-to-the-moon-for-the-first-time-in-50-years/
