The flight path of Artemis 2, step-by-step

The ten-day Artemis 2 mission will ship people across the Moon for the primary time for the reason that Apollo program.

Artemis 2 will comply with a figure-8-shaped path that may ship astronauts across the Moon earlier than returning them to Earth. Credit score: Astronomy: Roen Kelly

Artemis 2 will use the SLS to ship a crew of 4 aboard an Orion spacecraft on a 10-day mission looping inside 4,600 miles (7,400 km) of the Moon. 

The crew consists of Commander Reid Wiseman, Pilot Victor Glover, and mission specialists Christina Koch and Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen. Koch would be the first lady to journey to the Moon, and Hansen would be the first non-American to make the journey. The quartet have spent a complete of 660 days in house on long-duration missions to the Worldwide House Station and have 12 spacewalks between them.

Earlier than departing for the Moon, Artemis 2 will enter a high-altitude 24-hour Earth orbit to take a look at the Orion spacecraft methods. After separating from the SLS higher stage, the crew will take handbook management, flip Orion round, and strategy the higher stage in a simulated docking to see how the craft handles in shut quarters. Then Orion will flip round and lightweight its Service Module engine, setting off for the Moon.

1. Launch from Kennedy House Middle, Florida. 

2. Stable rocket boosters, fairings, and launch abort system jettisoned.

3. Core stage main-engine cutoff and separation.

4. Perigee increase burn to low Earth orbit.

5. Apogee increase burn to excessive Earth orbit.

6. Orion separates from ICPS and performs proximity operations demo.

7. Perigee increase burn.

8. Trans-lunar injection burn. 

9. 4-day journey to the Moon on a free return trajectory.

10. Lunar flyby 6,479 miles (10,427 km) above floor.

11. 4-day return journey to Earth.

12. Crew Module separates from Service Module.

13. Crew Module reenters environment.

14. Splashdown within the Pacific Ocean.

This story is an excerpt from Artemis Explained, which appeared within the January 2025 concern of Astronomy.