Artemis II, Day Two: Five Questions Answered And Where The Crew Is Now
Artemis II, Day Two: Five Questions Answered And Where The Crew Is Now
Ada Wood Thu, April 2, 2026 at 7:38 PM UTC
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The crew of Artemis II left Earth on a journey to the moon yesterday — but they haven’t reached their destination yet. Here’s what you about the 10-day mission on day two of their voyage.
Where are the astronauts now?
Before they make it to the moon, the crew is going for a “test drive.” Right now, they’re in orbit around our home planet. For the first 25 hours, they will be practicing steering the capsule — named Orion — in an orbit around Earth.
Orion should enter a self-flying feature on their way back to Earth, and the team shouldn’t need to steer its way around space at all. But as a fail-safe, there is a manual control feature, and they want to practice using it in the case that the pilots need to take control, according to the .
AP Photo/Chris O'MearaWhere are the astronauts headed next?
Once they finish their time in proximity to Earth, the crew should have their hands off the wheel as Orion fires the main engine that will propel them to the moon.
From there, they have a four-day trip to the moon before eventually looping around it. The trip around the moon will only take a few hours. At this moment, they are expected to mark history for the farthest humans have ever gone from Earth and into space.
According to NASA, the moon will appear around the same size as a basketball held at arm's length for the astronauts as they view it outside the capsule's windows.
Then, they will return home to land in the Pacific Ocean.
What has their journey been like so far?
The team has hit one bump in the road, although not a mission-critical one, and something some of us have even experienced in our own homes: a toilet malfunction.
This is the first trip in the Artemis program with life-support equipment, like a water dispenser and toilet.
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But the capsule’s toilet wasn’t functioning properly, and the backup — a handheld bag and funnel — had to come into play before it was eventually repaired.
Will there be an Artemis III?
Yes, and there’s even an Artemis IV after that!
In 2022, Artemis I took the Orion capsule on a similar lunar flyby, but as a test run without a living, breathing crew.
For Artemis III, a crew will launch into low Earth orbit, where Orion will dock with a future lunar lander — primarily as a test run for the main event in the phase ahead.
In the final planned phase, expected in 2028, Artemis IV will land on the Moon’s south pole. This will be the first time in more than 50 years that humans have been on the lunar surface, the last being the Apollo 17 mission in 1972.
Artemis II Fun Fact!
With a story like this, there are a few. While the crew is in space, they’ll be performing several unique tests and experiments.
The team will test their ability to protect themselves from high radiation events like solar flares, while collecting data on the radiation levels inside Orion. This is one of the dangerous parts of the mission, NASA says.
Part of their experiment includes “organ chips,” which are blood samples grown to simulate bone marrow.
According to NASA, these living human cells are grown to model the structures and functions of specific regions in human organs. This means they can beat like a heart, breathe like a lung or metabolize like a liver.
Source: “AOL Breaking”
