NASA 的 Artemis II 最早将于 2026 年 4 月 1 日发射，搭载 4 名太空人执行为期 10 天的绕月飞行，总航程超过 96.6 万公里（600,000 英里）。322 英尺高（约 98.1 公尺）的 Space Launch System 将在核心级燃烧 53.7 万加仑液氢与 19.6 万加仑液氧之后，由 4 具直径 8 英尺（约 2.44 公尺）的主引擎提供约 170 万磅推力，两具固体助推器各再增加 330 万磅。这将使 Artemis II 成为自 1972 年 12 月 Apollo 17 以来首次载人返月任务，也是继 Artemis I 之后、时隔逾 3 年的首次载人 SLS/Orion 飞行。

机组员为 Reid Wiseman、Victor Glover、Christina Koch 与 Jeremy Hansen；其中 Koch 保有女性单次太空飞行 328 天纪录，Hansen 则将成为首位飞向月球的加拿大人。月球平均距离地球约 38.6 万公里（240,000 英里），而此次发射时接近远地点，距离将接近 40.2 万公里（250,000 英里）；加上 Artemis II 的飞行高度高于 Apollo，机组员将比任何人都远离地球。任务关键节点包括：发射后约 2 分钟抛弃助推器，约 8 分钟后核心级关机分离，前 2 小时内上面级进行 2 次变轨点火，2 天后再由 European Service Module 执行奔月注入。

第 5 天，机组员将看到仅 24 人曾亲眼见过的月球背面，并在月后经历约 30 至 50 分钟通讯中断。由于飞越月面高度约 7,400 公里（4,600 英里），他们将比 Apollo 看见更大范围地形，包括形成于约 38 亿年前的 Orientale basin 与月球最大撞击盆地 South-Pole Aitken basin。返航时，Orion 将以接近每小时 40,200 公里（25,000 英里）的速度再入大气层，承受约 1,650 摄氏度（3,000 华氏度）高温，并在 25,000 与 9,500 英尺（约 7,620 与 2,900 公尺）高度开伞减速。若此行成功，NASA 将朝 2027 年中的 Artemis III 与预定 2028 年的 Artemis IV 推进，但月球著陆器、生命维持系统与轨道加注仍是主要技术门槛。

NASA’s Artemis II is scheduled to launch as early as April 1, 2026, carrying four astronauts on a 10-day lunar flyby covering more than 600,000 miles (96.6 million meters). The 322-foot (98.1-meter) Space Launch System will burn 537,000 gallons of liquid hydrogen and 196,000 gallons of liquid oxygen in its core stage, then use four 8-foot-wide (2.44-meter-wide) main engines to generate about 1.7 million pounds of thrust, while two solid boosters add 3.3 million pounds each. That makes Artemis II the first crewed return to the moon since Apollo 17 in December 1972 and the first crewed SLS/Orion flight more than three years after Artemis I.

The crew is Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Jeremy Hansen; Koch holds the women’s record for the longest single spaceflight at 328 days, and Hansen will become the first Canadian to travel to the moon. The moon’s average distance from Earth is about 240,000 miles (386,000 kilometers), but at launch it will be near apogee, closer to 250,000 miles (402,000 kilometers); because Artemis II will also fly higher above the lunar surface than Apollo did, its crew will travel farther from Earth than any humans before. Key mission milestones include booster separation about two minutes after launch, core stage shutdown and separation about eight minutes in, two upper-stage burns within the first two hours, and translunar injection by the European Service Module two days later.

On day five, the crew will see the lunar far side, a view only 24 people have witnessed directly, and will lose communications with Earth for about 30 to 50 minutes behind the moon. Flying about 4,600 miles (7,400 kilometers) above the surface, they should observe more terrain than Apollo crews, including the roughly 3.8-billion-year-old Orientale basin and the South-Pole Aitken basin, the moon’s largest impact crater. On return, Orion will reenter at nearly 25,000 miles per hour (40,200 kilometers per hour), endure about 3,000°F (1,650°C), and deploy parachutes at 25,000 and 9,500 feet (7,620 and 2,900 meters). If successful, NASA can press toward Artemis III in mid-2027 and Artemis IV in 2028, though the lunar lander, life-support integration, and orbital refueling remain major hurdles.