Artemis 2

Artemis 2 insignia

Artemis 2 was the second mission of the Artemis Program and the first crewed flight in the program. Artemis 2 was the first time that humans have flown beyond Low Earth Orbit since Apollo 17, in 1972. The mission profile was to do a crewed flyby of the Moon as the second flight test for both the Space Launch System, and the Orion MPCV spacecraft that will be used in the program.

Crew
 Pilot
 Specialist
 Specialist

### Crew

#### Reid Wiseman

Reid Wiseman (born 1975) was a member of NASA's Astronaut Group 20, and was the commander for the mission, Wiseman previously flew to the ISS on Soyuz TMA-13M in 2014. He retired from NASA in 2027.

#### Victor Glover

Victor Glover (born 1976) was a member of NASA's Astronaut Group 21, and was the pilot for the mission, making him the first person of color to fly outside of Earth's orbit. He previously flew on the International Space Station on SpaceX Crew-1, in 2020. He also later flew on Artemis 5, landing on the Moon, before retiring from NASA in August 2032.

#### Christina Koch

Christina Koch (born 1979) is part of NASA's Astronaut Group 21, and was a mission specialist for this mission, she became the first woman to fly outside of Earth's orbit and near the Moon. She previously flew to the ISS on Soyuz MS-12, and later flew again on Boeing Starliner-4 in 2028. She is still working for NASA.

#### Jeremy Hansen

Jeremy Hansen is part of the 2009 CSA Astronaut Group, he was a mission specialist for the mission alongside Koch, he became the first Canadian and non-American to fly outside of Earth's orbit. This was his first mission, but he would later fly on Vast-3 in 2027 and Artemis 7 in 2033.

### Flight

#### Launch

Artemis 2 launched on March 7, 2025, 10:32 AM EDT aboard the Space Launch System, 2 minutes and 11 seconds later, the Solid Rocket Boosters (SRB's) on the rocket separated successfully. At 10:35 AM, both the Launch Abort System (LAS) and payload fairing separated from the rocket as the flight continues nominally, 5 minutes later, the core stage of the rocket cut off, and separated successfully 12 seconds later. 10 minutes later, at 10:51 AM, Orion began it's solar panel deployment, with a successful completion 12 minutes later. At 11:26 AM, the craft performed it's first burn in order to fly to the Moon, the craft entered an elliptic High Earth Orbit.

#### Headed to the Moon

Orion remained in it's orbit for 23 hours and 16 minutes, with the crew checking the systems of the spacecraft. On March 8, at 10:51 AM, the spacecraft reached it's perigee of 1,206 km, before performing a second burn to fly to the Moon. The burn was complete at 10:56 AM, with the crew reporting all systems nominal 5 minutes later. The spacecraft began a 4 day long cruise to the Moon. On March 12, at 4:54 AM, an all systems nominal was reported, with Victor Glover stating "More should witness the beauty of the Moon and the cosmos". At 5:06 AM, the spacecraft reached it's lowest point to the Moon, at a perigee of 89.5 km, before beginning it's return to Earth.

#### Return to Earth

After it's departure from the Moon, Orion began a free-return trajectory to Earth. At 2:24 PM, an image was taken of the Earth and Moon together in the image. On March 17, at 4:01 PM, a final all systems nominal was reported as the spacecraft was only 783 km from Earth, it's propulsion stage was then separated to prepare for atmospheric re-entry. At 4:15 PM, the spacecraft began to re-enter into Earth's atmosphere, eventually slowing down and heading down to the sea, 7 minutes later, it's parachutes were activated at just 1.4 km above the sea, with the spacecraft finally splashing down 4 minutes later, ending the mission.