Artemis II successfully completed

The Artemis II mission carries four astronauts: Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen. The crew will travel to the moon, orbit it and then return to Earth. The astronauts will not be landing on the moon during this mission.

The goal of the mission is to extensively test the Space Launch System (SLS rocket) and the Orion spacecraft. Both the rocket and the spacecraft were built by the American space agency, NASA.

Artemis II also has a European and even a Dutch connection. The space agency ESA built the European Service Module (ESM), which provides the Orion spacecraft with propulsion, fuel and everything else the astronauts need to survive their long journey to the moon. The ESM's solar panels were even developed by Airbus Netherlands in Leiden.

Leaving Earth's orbit

On the night of April 2nd to 3rd, the Orion capsule left Earth's orbit. From that point on, the astronauts were truly on their way to the moon. The mission has officially begun and can no longer be aborted.

New record

On the night of April 6th to 7th, Artemis II reached the far side of the moon. The crew flew at a distance of 406,773 kilometers from Earth. This is truly remarkable, as humans have never been this far into space before. When the crew reached the far side of the moon, contact with Earth was lost for 40 minutes. This was expected. During the flyby, the astronauts also saw the side of the moon that we cannot see from Earth.

Landing

On the night of April 10th to 11th, Artemis II landed safely in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of San Diego. The return journey was tense: temperatures reached 2,760 degrees Celsius, and there had been issues with the Orion capsule's heat shield during the first Artemis mission. For the return of Artemis II, NASA calculated a different route. This time, everything went according to plan. The astronauts have returned safe and sound!