Artemis II

On 21 December 1968, Apollo 8 left the planet on top of a Saturn V rocket. During the mission, Frank Borman, Jim Lovell, and William Anders became the first humans to leave Earth’s gravitational sphere of influence on their way to the Moon. They were the first people to see our satellite in proximity, the first to orbit it, and the first to spy the far side.

This novelty set us on a tremendous astral path, one that allowed Apollo 11’s explorers to make a great leap for humankind. We were space explorers, and our horizons seemed poised only to expand.

But when Apollo 17 visited the Moon for the sixth time in 1972, our forays into the distant cosmos suddenly abated. The wonder that drove us, the political will, and the appropriation of resources inexplicably plummeted, all in under an Olympic cycle.

For more than half a century, we confined human spaceflight to low Earth orbit.

On 1 April 2026, we finally returned to the heavens. The four astronauts aboard Artemis II did their best Apollo 8 imitation, traveling to and orbiting the Moon, hoping to be a stepstone to this generation’s Apollo 11.

With more than 50 years of technological advances, this trip to Luna included the ability to document the trip with extraordinary clarity.

To escape the powerful well of Earth’s gravity, NASA employed the Space Launch System, a two-stage rocket program.

The power of this rocket, evident in the sights and sounds of the liftoff, is incredible, hinting at the immense forces of the universe.

A cozy Orion capsule, which the crew dubbed Integrity, served as the lifeline for the astronauts.

After the initial launch, the mission spent the first 24 hours orbiting Earth while jettisoning stages of the propulsion system. One such discarded piece served as a target for a demonstration of Orion’s manual operating and docking systems. Integrity unfurled its solar arrays, each adorned with a camera, before burning into a path for the Moon.

The Artemis II crew really needed to trust in the laws of the universe and the mathematical skills of NASA, as they took what scientists call a “free-return trajectory” for their flight. Instead of using propellant to send them back to Earth, Integrity relied on gravity – in this case, the Moon’s gravity – to snatch them and shoot them back home.

For more than four days, they sailed through space. The views during their launch and coast were nothing short of spectacular. We’re used to seeing the Moon in slivers, but the astronauts got to see Earth in shards!

On day six of the mission, the astronauts reached the far side of the Moon, flying about 4,000 miles (6,545 kilometers) above the surface. At a distance of 252,756 miles from home, the Artemis II crew was farther from Earth than anyone had ever been.

For 40 minutes, the massive satellite blocked communications. This period of solitude must have been simultaneously frightening and uniquely exhilarating.

While they traveled around the back of the Moon, they witnessed something truly spectacular: a 57-minute solar eclipse. During the show, they saw the dancing solar corona, the planets Venus, Mars, Saturn, and Mercury, and impact flashes as meteoroids hit the Moon. Adding to the once-in-a-lifetime spectacle, the Moon was not completely dark during the eclipse, thanks to Earthshine, light reflected from our planet.

They also joined the small party of humans who have witnessed an Earthrise and an Earthset.

Words come nowhere near justice in describing the visuals from this part of the journey. The eclipse images inspire a profound sense of wonder and joy.

As Commander Reid Wiseman put it in a video he captured of an Earthset using his iPhone, “Dude, no way.”

Watching that blue sliver disappear is something else.

After exiting the Moon’s sphere of influence, everything might have seemed humdrum for the Artemis II crew, but they had work to do, using the time to fly home to perform more tests and demos of the spacecraft.

And the return to Earth’s atmosphere certainly dashed any worry about anticlimax.

Millions watched as the capsule descended on parachutes, plunking into the Pacific Ocean off the California coast on April 10.

Everyone came home, happy and healthy.

Now, finally, the second age of human visitation of the Moon has begun.

May the Artemis program continue to progress, soon sending the next people to walk upon Luna.

And, after we’ve achieved that lofty goal, may we not spend another 50 years waiting for the next giant leap into the cosmos!