NASA
Artemis ll
NASA
Artemis ll
Mission to the moon: Countdown to Artemis II launch NASA prepares for Artemis II, the first crewed lunar mission in more than 50 years, with launch just one day away.
After more than 50 years, NASA is taking a key step towards its long-term return to the moon with Artemis II.
The four-person crew will go on a 685,000 mile, 10-day journey around the moon, also known as a lunar fly-by.
Here is a timeline of what the Artemis II mission will look like:
Day 1: Launch and Earth orbit
April 1 is the first launch opportunity date with a window between 6:24 p.m. ET and 8:24 p.m. ET and potential backup dates between April 2 and April 6.
The astronauts will be sitting aboard NASA's newest spacecraft, Orion, which will ascend atop the Space Launch System rocket.
About eight minutes after launch, the rocket's core stage engines will shut down and separate from the upper stage and the spacecraft and the crew will be in space, according to NASA
Orion will then deploy its four solar arrays for power and to charge its batteries.
Artemis Day 3
After a successful translunar injection burn on April 2 and a roughly eight-hour crew rest period, the Artemis II crew began their second full day in space, settling into the rhythm of deep‑space operations. Upon burn completion, NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch, along with CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut Jeremy Hansen, became the first people to leave Earth’s orbit since the Apollo program in 1972.
The team in the Mission Control Center at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, woke the crew at 1 p.m. EDT, playing “…In a Daydream,” by the Freddy Jones Band to begin the day’s schedule. Today’s activities include the first outbound trajectory correction burn (OTC), Orion spacecraft operations, lunar science prep, and crew health demonstrations. At wakeup, the spacecraft and its crew were approximately 99,900 statute miles from Earth and approaching the Moon at 161,750 statute miles.
The lunar science team in mission control is selecting geologic features on the Moon’s surface that will be visible to the crew as Orion loops around it on Monday, April 6. During the six-hour lunar science observation period, the Sun, Moon, and the Orion spacecraft will be aligned such that the crew will see about 20% of the Moon’s far side, the hemisphere not visible from Earth, lit by the Sun. Visible far-side features will include several never before seen with unaided eyes, such as the full Orientale basin, Pierazzo crater, and Ohm crater.
Inside Orion, the four crew members will practice preparing the cabin for lunar observations. This includes stowing equipment, setting up cameras, and practicing the choreography of moving in microgravity within a space about the size of two minivans.
They will configure their handheld cameras with the 80-400-millimeter and 14-24-millimeter lenses that will be used during Monday’s lunar flyby.
Artemis ll Day 4
Courtesy NASA