Artemis II Lifts Off: NASA Launches First Crewed Lunar Mission in Over Fifty Years

2026-04-01 general

Cape Canaveral, Thursday, 2 April 2026.
On April 1, NASA launched Artemis II, sending a historic crew—including the first woman and first Black astronaut to orbit the moon—farther into space than ever before.

Orbital Operations and the Space Economy

Once in orbit, the Orion capsule successfully deployed its four solar array wings, which span roughly 19.2 meters and contain 60000 solar cells in total to power the vessel [4][5]. This successful deployment marks a critical return on the massive financial investment made into the Artemis program. To date, the development of the SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft has cost taxpayers more than $44 billion [3]. However, this expenditure is viewed as foundational for the burgeoning global space economy. NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman, who took the helm in 2025, emphasized that Artemis II is merely a test mission setting the stage for lucrative future operations [3].

A Historic Crew Looks to the Lunar Far Side

Aboard the Orion capsule, the diverse crew is settling in for their 10-day journey, marking the first crewed moon mission since 1972 [7][8]. Commanded by 27-year U.S. Navy veteran Reid Wiseman, the team includes pilot Victor Glover, mission specialist Christina Koch, and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen [7][8]. During the final pre-launch poll, Hansen remarked, “We are going for all humanity,” a sentiment echoed by his crewmates [3]. Over the coming days, the astronauts will test Orion’s systems, perform a backflip maneuver to practice docking for future missions, and eventually glimpse the far side of the moon—a sight Wiseman noted has never been directly observed by human eyes [2][3].

Sources

Artemis II Aerospace sector