A legendary event occurred on April 1, 2026, at 6:35 p.m. EST, NASA launched their first manned moon mission in 54 years. The Artemis II carries four astronauts on a mission to the moon. This brave crew include Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Jeremy Hansen. Three of the astronauts belong to NASA and one Jeremy Hansen who is from CSA (Canadian Space Agency).

The most significant detail of the launch is that this is the first time an African American, a woman, and a Canadian have been launched outside the Earth’s orbit. Historically science has been very limited to just white men, and this mission is a large step towards scientific and social progress.

The path of the mission travels around the far side of the moon and back to Earth. The purpose of the mission is to determine if the Orion capsule which is the capsule launched from the rocket, can support missions and human life. It will orbit around the moon not actually land on it. The mission is supposed to be 10 days total with a sum of 685,000 miles. The plan is to land in the Pacific Ocean when it comes back to Earth. To track the path of Artemis II you can follow this link: Track NASA’s Artemis II Mission in Real Time – NASA

This mission will light the way towards more space exploration with humans. Hopefully this is a sign of more launches to come and more information on the massive universe we live in. For more in depth information on the mission, look at this website which goes into specifics of the launch and path: NASA’s Artemis II Mission Leaves Earth Orbit for Flight around Moon – NASA.