CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida — April 2, 2026 NASA's Artemis 2 mission launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida, at 18:35 local time on Tuesday, carrying the first woman, first non-white astronaut, and first Canadian on a lunar mission. The Orion spacecraft, with astronauts Christina Koch, Victor Glover, Reid Wiseman, and Jeremy Hansen aboard, will travel over 2.3 million kilometers during its journey around the Moon. At its farthest point, the crew will reach approximately 370,000 kilometers from Earth—potentially the farthest distance humans have ever traveled.
"This is a historic day for space exploration," said a NASA spokesperson. Koch becomes the first woman on a NASA Moon mission, Glover the first non-white astronaut, and Hansen the first Canadian to participate in a lunar flight. The diverse crew represents a milestone in NASA's human spaceflight program.
US President Donald Trump hailed the mission in a statement, saying: *"Wir gewinnen im Weltraum, auf der Erde und überall dazwischen – wirtschaftlich, militärisch und jetzt auch über die Sterne hinaus."* ("We are winning in space, on Earth, and everywhere in between—economically, militarily, and now beyond the stars.")
The mission marks NASA's first crewed lunar flight since the Apollo program. Artemis 2 will test critical systems ahead of planned future Moon landings.