NASA is now targeting March 2026 for Artemis II — the first crewed lunar mission since 1972. It will set the stage for Artemis III’s planned moon landing in 2028.

The Artemis II crew — commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover and mission specialists Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen — includes the first person of color (Glover), the first woman (Koch) and the first non-American (Hansen, a member of the Canadian Space Agency) to leave low-Earth orbit.

Mankind’s leap back to the moon will have to wait at least a month more after a final Artemis II launch rehearsal revealed critical fuel leaks in the mission’s giant rocket. The Artemis II launch won’t happen until at least March after Monday’s “wet dress rehearsal” found the Space Launch System rocket was leaking liquid hydrogen as the fuel was pumped through its systems.

Northeast Ohio engineers play a pivotal role in NASA's Artemis II mission, aiming to return astronauts to the moon and safely back to Earth.

NASA’s Artemis II mission to carry four people around the moon and back could launch as early as this Sunday, Feb. 8. Backup dates keep this launch window open into April if delays occur, but NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman,

Artemis II’s goal is to send people to pass by the Moon and be sure all engineering systems are tested in space before Artemis III, which will land astronauts near the lunar south pole.

What exactly do Trump and Vance know about this upcoming mission? Is it safe?

China has successfully completed a static fire test of the first stage of the rocket that will take Chinese taikonauts to the Moon in the years to come. The test occurred at the LC-301 launch pad at the Wenchang Space Launch Site on Hainan Island.

China tests crewed spacecraft abort and rocket recovery in major lunar milestone China took a major step forward in its lunar and human spaceflight programs late Tuesday with successful in-flight abort and rocket recovery tests.