As of spring 2026, China has named the two spacecraft that will carry its astronauts to the moon, advanced a competitive design process for a crewed lunar rover, and continued building a heavy-lift rocket powerful enough to leave Earth orbit.

"It's 13 minutes of things that have to go right," NASA said of the reentry and splashdown, the first with astronauts from the moon in over 50 years.

The Artemis program was officially named and announced by NASA in May 2019, when Artemis III was intended to land “the first woman and next man” on the lunar South Pole in 2024. Since then, the uncrewed Artemis I test flight launched in 2022, and Artemis II is complete.

NASA sets 2028 moon landing goal while analyzing astronaut cells from AVATAR experiment. Researchers are comparing the crew's health to cells exposed to deep space.

NASA's Artemis 2 mission will send four astronauts on a 10-day journey around the moon, the first human lunar mission in more than 50 years. The mission is scheduled to launch April 1 from Kennedy Space Center in Florida, with backup dates available.

April 1 may have been April Fool’s Day, but a few other things were going on. NASA launched Artemis II, the first mission to the moon in more than 50 years, sending four astronauts on the ride of a lifetime. The full pink moon lit up the night sky with a dazzling display just hours before the launch to the far side of the moon.