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By Amanda Greenwood
Associate News Editor
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NASA is preparing to launch Artemis II, a landmark mission that will send four astronauts around the moon for the first time in more than half a century—marking a major step in the agency’s long‑term plan to return humans to the lunar surface.
For viewers on Earth, NASA is offering extensive live coverage and digital platforms allowing the public to follow the mission in near real time.
What Is Artemis II?
According to BBC News reporting, Artemis II is NASA’s first crewed mission of the program, and the first time humans will venture beyond low Earth orbit since the Apollo 17 mission in 1972.
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The mission will launch from the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, carrying astronauts inside the Orion spacecraft on a test flight designed to validate systems required for future landings, according to NASA.
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What Is Artemis II’s Mission?
The mission is designed to test the Orion spacecraft by “venturing further into deep space than anyone has gone before.”
NASA says the flight will “test the Orion spacecraft’s life-support systems for the first time with humans aboard, helping lay the groundwork for future crewed Artemis missions.” It will provide critical data on spacecraft performance in the deep‑space environment and help refine procedures for future human missions to the moon and Mars, according to BBC News.
How To Watch the Mission
According to British newspaper the Mirror, coverage of the mission, which is expected to start on Wednesday, April 1, at 7.45 a.m. ET. It will follow a 10-day journey, with Orion going hundreds of thousands of miles into space, where it will travel around the moon before returning to Earth for a splashdown in the Pacific Ocean.
NASA will offer live coverage of the prelaunch, launch, and splashdown on NASA+ (the agency's on-demand streaming service), and its official YouTube and social media channels, including X, Facebook, and Twitch.
Coverage will also be available through selected third-party streaming platforms such as Amazon Prime, Apple TV, Hulu, Netflix, and Roku, depending on the region.
In addition to live video, viewers can track the spacecraft using NASA’s Artemis Real‑time Orbit Website, which displays Orion’s position relative to Earth and the moon, its distance traveled, and elapsed mission time using live data transmitted from Orion to Mission Control in Houston.
How Long Will Artemis II Be in Space?
The mission is expected to last approximately 10 days, from launch to splashdown. During that time, astronauts will travel farther from Earth than any humans since the Apollo era, spending several days in deep space as Orion loops around the moon before heading home.
The Artemis II Crew
According to NASA, Artemis II will carry a four‑person international crew, which includes three NASA astronauts—Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch—and one Canadian Space Agency astronaut, Jeremy Hansen.
According to Space.com, the mission is historic on multiple fronts: Christina Koch will become the first woman to travel to the Moon, Victor Glover will be the first person of color on a lunar mission, and Jeremy Hansen will be the first non‑American to journey around the moon.
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