Artemis II Mission Successfully Leaves Earth's Orbit En Route to Moon CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla., April 3, 2026 NASA's Artemis II mission has departed Earth's orbit, marking the first manned Moon mission in over 50 years and setting the stage for a planned lunar landing in 2028. The Orion spacecraft, carrying U.S. astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch, along with Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen, is now on its way to the Moon after a successful launch. The mission, propelled by the 98-meter-tall Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, aims to send the crew farther from Earth than any humans have traveled before. Developed by Boeing and Northrop Grumman, the SLS rocket launched the Orion spacecraft, built by Lockheed Martin, into space. The European Service Module (ESM) is attached to Orion, providing critical support for the mission. Each SLS launch costs between $2 billion and $4 billion, with the Artemis program having already expended at least $93 billion since its inception in 2012. This mission serves as a test run ahead of NASA's planned Moon landing in 2028. The crew will orbit the Moon, gathering data and testing systems essential for future lunar exploration. Artemis II follows the uncrewed Artemis I mission, which tested Orion's systems in 2024. The program represents a renewed push for human deep-space exploration after the Apollo missions of the 1960s and 70s.