The Stars My Destination: Artemis II Launch

Better Late than Never | Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea máxima culpa!

Destination Moon
1-2 April 2026: Commander Reid Wiseman (N.A.S.A.), Pilot Victor Glover (N.A.S.A.), Mission Specialist 1 Christina Koch (N.A.S.A.), & Mission Specialist 2 Jeremy Hansen (C.S.A.) lifted off from the Kennedy Space Center's LC-39B aboard the Orion Integrity (CM-003 & E.S.M.-2) atop a Space Launch System rocket.

Wiseman was a veteran of a previous spaceflight (Soyuz TMA-13M for Expeditions 40 & 41), Glover was also a veteran of a previous spaceflight (Crew-1 for Expeditions 64 & 65), & Koch was also a veteran of a previous spaceflight (Soyuz MS-12 [launch]/MS-13 [landing] for Expeditions 59, 60, & 61); Hansen was a rookie.

The Artemis II mission had no direct parallel to any Apollo mission, but was comparable to elements of several:

Apollo 7 was the first crewed flight of the Apollo Command & Service Module & Artemis II was the first crewed flight of the Orion Crew Module/European Service Module. Apollo 7 spent eleven days in low Earth orbit before returning to Earth, while Artemis II spent one day in high Earth orbit before heading toward the Moon.

Apollo 8 was the first flight of the Apollo C.S.M., crewed or uncrewed, beyond low Earth orbit & Artemis II was the first crewed flight of the Orion beyond low Earth orbit, though an uncrewed Orion (CM-002) had earlier flown around the Moon on Artemis I. Apollo 8 made ten orbits of the Moon, while Artemis II flew a free return trajectory, only completing half an orbit around the Moon.

Apollo 8 was also the only flight of an Apollo C.S.M. around the Moon without a Lunar Module & Artemis II is scheduled to be the only flight of an Orion around the Moon without either of the two Human Landing System landers currently in development (the Starship H.L.S. from SpaceX & the Blue Moon Mark 2 from Blue Origin).

Apollo 13 flew a free return trajectory after a malfunction disabled the C.S.M. Odyssey, while Artemis II flew on a free return trajectory according to plan, with the Orion Integrity working just fine.

Wiseman, Glover, Koch, & Hansen a day spent checking out the Integrity & her systems in an elliptical high Earth orbit. The quartet demonstrated "proximity operations" with the spent Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage third stage; in October 1968, Apollo 7 had conducted similar maneuvers with its spent S-IVB second stage as a target. On the second day of the flight, Artemis II used the E.S.M.'s main engine to conduct the first crewed trans-lunar injection since Apollo 17 in December 1972. Artemis II was on its way to the Moon.

Bonus! Destination Moon Song o' the Day: Artemis II
They Might Be Giants, "Destination Moon" from John Henry (Space Cadet Mike Papa Whiskey)

Commentary:

"By rocket to the Moon,
By airplane to the rocket,
By taxi to the airport,
By front door to the taxi,
By throwing back the blanket,
Hanging down the legs…"

The Wayback Machine Tour of the Artemis Program
2014
"The Explorers' Club," № MLXI: The 10th Anniversary of Exploration Flight Test-1
2022
Artemis I Launch
Artemis I Orbit
Artemis I Splashdown
The 1st Anniversary of Artemis I

Godspeed, Artemis II!

Ex Luna, scientia.