NASA, Artemis and Moon
Digest more
Jeremy Hansen, Canadian astronaut and Earth
Digest more
Artemis II astronauts will not set foot on the moon during the planned 10-day lunar mission. However, they could travel further away from home than any human being in history, reaching a distance of 248,700 miles, breaking a record set by Apollo 13 astronauts in 1970.
The Artemis II astronauts, after saying goodbye to family and friends, were strapped into their seats aboard the Orion spacecraft by early afternoon, hours before the launch window opened at 6:24 p.m. Eastern time. As the astronauts sat, NASA continued with checks to ensure the safety of the crew before liftoff.