Science and Technology

EXPLAINER

A visual guide to Artemis II and previous missions to the moon

Artemis II is expected to break the record for the farthest distance humans have travelled from Earth.

A view of Earth taken by Artemis II commander Reid Wiseman from one of the Orion spacecraft’s windows after the crew completed the translunar injection burn to send the craft towards the moon on April 2, 2026. [Handout/NASA via Reuters]

A view of the Orion capsule taken with a camera mounted on one of its solar array wings during a routine external inspection of the spacecraft on the second day of the Artemis II mission towards the Moon. [Handout/NASA via Reuters]

A view of the moon taken by one of the Artemis II's four crew members through the window of the Orion spacecraft on the third day of the NASA mission. [Handout/NASA via Reuters]

Artemis II Commander Reid Wiseman peers out of one of the Orion spacecraft's main cabin windows for a look back at Earth. [Handout/NASA via Reuters]

The Artemis II mission left Earth on April 1, 2026, on a 10-day journey around the moon and back. [Handout/NASA via AP]

The crew is expected to swing around the far side of the moon early this coming week, a manoeuvre not tried in more than 50 years. [Handout/NASA via Reuters]

Overnight from Sunday into Monday US time, Orion is due to enter what NASA calls the “lunar sphere of influence” when the moon's gravity will have a stronger pull on the spacecraft than the Earth's. [Handout/NASA via Reuters]

Artemis II mission specialist Christina Koch is on board the Orion with her fellow Americans Wiseman and pilot Victor Glover and Canadian Jeremy Hansen, also a mission specialist. [Handout/NASA via Reuters]