NASA could bring forward Artemis II crewed mission to February

NASA has confirmed that it now plans to launch the first crewed lunar mission in 50 years as soon as February 2026.

The Artemis II mission will be the first crewed flight to the Moon in 50 years and will see the astronauts complete a 10 day mission that will take them around the Moon and back to earth in order to test the systems ahead of a full mission to the lunar surface.

NASA originally said it hoped to fly this mission by April but Nasa’s acting deputy associate administrator Lakiesha Hawkins, said: “The launch window could open as early as the fifth of February, but we want to emphasise that safety is our top priority.”

The Artemis II crew selected for the mission are Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch, of Nasa and Jeremy Hansen of the Canadian Space Agency. They will be the first astronauts to travel beyond low Earth orbit since Apollo 17’s mission in 1972.

Lead Artemis II flight director, Jeff Radigan said that the crew would be “going at least 5,000 nautical miles (9,200Km) past the Moon, which is much higher than previous missions have gone,” which is further into space than any manned mission ever has.

The capsule that will take the astronauts on the mission is named Orion and it will be launched into orbit on the NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS).

Orion will then be propelled into high earth orbit by the core stage which uses an Interim Cryogenic Propulsion System (ICPS) before rehearsing manoeuvres between Orion and the Core to test systems for a Lunar landing and return.

Experiments and monitoring of the crew will also help to learn about the effects of these missions to aid further Artemis II flights.