The agency still has big decisions to make, but the preliminary mission plans include some interesting choices.

Artemis 2 was the first mission to carry humans toward the moon since NASA's Apollo program ended in 1972. Artemis 2 was the second flight of NASA's Artemis program and the first to fly astronauts aboard the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion ...

NASA's Space Launch System rocket Artemis II is readied for launch on Pad 39B at Kennedy Space Center, FL, March 31, 2026. Artemis II is scheduled to launch April 4, taking 4 astronauts around the Moon and back. Craig Bailey, FLORIDA TODAY via USA TODAY ...

All products featured here are independently selected by our editors and writers. If you buy something through links on our site, Gizmodo may earn an affiliate commission. Reading time 2 minutes Over the weekend, the astronauts on NASA’s Artemis 2 ...

Artemis II reveals detailed hidden colours on the Moon’s far side Andrew McCarthy stacked thousands of lunar flyby photographs Moon mineral colours expose clues about ancient lunar geology

Over the past 24 hours, NASA pulled off a historic liftoff with Artemis 2 on April 1, 2026, sending the SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft Integrity on a free-return lunar flyby with four astronauts aboard.

Following the roaring success of NASA's Artemis 2 mission, the space agency is devising plans for a final test flight before attempting to land the first humans on the Moon in decades, as soon as 2028.

Artemis 2 marked humanity’s return to deep space for the first time in decades. NASA’s mission sent astronauts beyond Earth orbit again, testing the systems needed to survive future lunar missions and long-duration space travel.