The upper stage – or interim cryogenic propulsion stage – of the SLS (Space Launch System) rocket separates from the Orion spacecraft after helping to deliver Orion to space on April 1, 2026, for the Artemis II mission. The upper stage was then used as a target for Orion to maneuver around in a demonstration of the spacecraft's ability to perform proximity operations.

Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen conducted a live question and answer session with Canadian youth and the public from across Canada.

"Welcome to my old neighborhood." Our NASA Artemis II astronauts woke up on the sixth day of their mission to a special message recorded in 2025 by astronaut Jim Lovell, the pilot of Apollo 8.

Artemis II commander Reid Wiseman looks out one of the Orion spacecraft's main cabin windows at the Moon ahead of the crew's lunar flyby on April 6, 2026.

Kelsey on console!

Kelsey Young is a Goddard lunar scientist, currently sitting in Mission Control to support the Artemis II astronauts during their flyby of the Moon. She's answering their questions and helping them prep for observations and photographs of the lunar surface.

Artemis II crewmember sleeping bags are illuminated inside the Orion spacecraft on Flight Day 5 of the mission and ahead of the crew's lunar flyby on April 6, 2026.

To commemorate the Artemis II mission, the astronauts announced their suggestion to rename certain features on the Moon to honor the Orion spacecraft, named Integrity, as well as commander Reid Wiseman's late wife, Carroll.

Suit tests from space, support from Houston.

Yesterday in the Orion Mission Evaluation Room, Duane Chin supported a demo of the Orion Crew Survival System suit as the crew ran pressurized tests. The CHESS team monitors all the gear the crew relies on aboard Orion.

The Artemis II crew are at now the closest point to the Moon in their mission, also called the perilune 🌒

While the Artemis II crew are experiencing their own personal solar eclipse, Mission Control will temporarily lose communications with the capsule. This is planned and expected. We anticipate regaining communications in about 30 minutes.

Artemis II has reached its maximum distance from Earth.

On the far side of the Moon, 252,756 miles away, Reid, Victor, Christina, and Jeremy have now traveled farther from Earth than any humans in history and now begin their journey home. Before they left, they said they hoped this mission would be forgotten, but it will be remembered as the moment people started to believe that America can once again do the near-impossible and change the world.

Congratulations to this incredible crew and the entire NASA team, our international and commercial partners, but this mission isn’t over until they’re under safe parachutes, splashing down into the Pacific.

Orion approaching the Moon.
4 hours into 9 seconds.

AOS (Acquisition of Signal) INTEGRITY - greeted by a crescent Earth more than 250,000 miles away.

"We will always choose Earth, we will always choose each other." -Christina H Koch

"We will always choose each other."

Mission control has reacquired signal with the Artemis II crew after the mission’s planned loss of signal. Our astronauts are once again using the Deep Space Network to keep conversation and science data flowing between space and Earth.

POETIC TIMING: Orion Integrity is setting a BRAND NEW RECORD - the furthest distance from Earth that Human Liquid Waste has been ejected from a spacecraft.

Artemis II is now entering a solar eclipse that will last for about an hour as Orion, the Moon and the Sun align. During this phase, the crew will see the Sun disappear behind a mostly darkened Moon.

The Sun coming out from the other end of the moon at the end of the eclipse