NASA 的 Artemis II 任务计划于 2026 年 4 月 1 日晚间 6:24（ET）自佛罗里达州卡内基航太中心发射，使用 Space Launch System（SLS）火箭与 Orion 太空舱，载员 4 人：Reid Wiseman、Christina Koch、Victor Glover（均为 NASA）及加拿大宇航员 Jeremy Hansen，进行 10 天月球环绕飞行。

本任务不进行登月，仅进行月球环绕。飞行近日点预计为距月面 4,000–6,000 英里（约 6,437–9,656 公里）。若按时于 4 月 1 日起飞，该任务将在 1972 年阿波罗最后载人登月后超过 54 年，创下人类距离月球最近的一次近距离接近，并有望刷新人类至今于太空航行的最远距离纪录。

该任务核心是透过实际飞行流程验证 Artemis 体系中的关键能力，尤其是 Boeing 制造的 SLS 与 Lockheed Martin 制造的 Orion，涵盖发射、环月测试与返回水面回收。NASA 将其定位为 Artemis 的关键演习：在完成安全性与协同操作后，为未来定期月球任务、进而建立可长期居住与工作的月球前哨基地铺路。

NASA’s Artemis II mission is scheduled for 1 April 2026 at 6:24 PM ET from Kennedy Space Center in Florida, using the SLS rocket and the Orion capsule, carrying four crew members—Reid Wiseman, Christina Koch, Victor Glover (all NASA astronauts), and Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen—for a 10-day lunar flyby mission.

No lunar landing is planned. The closest approach is expected to be between 4,000 and 6,000 miles (about 6,437–9,656 km) from the lunar surface. If launched as scheduled on 1 April, this will be the closest humans have come to the Moon in more than 54 years since Apollo’s last crewed lunar landing in 1972, and it may also set a new record for the farthest distance ever reached by humans in space.

The mission’s core purpose is to validate key capabilities across the Artemis architecture through actual flight operations, especially Boeing’s SLS and Lockheed Martin’s Orion, including launch, lunar-orbit testing, and recovery from splashdown. NASA frames it as a critical rehearsal so that, after confirming safety and operational integration, it can support future recurring lunar missions and eventually enable a sustained lunar base where humans can live and work.