As the countdown clock begins its final march toward Wednesday’s 6:24 p.m. ET launch window, it is important to remember that Artemis II is far more than just a “trip around the Moon.” This 10-day flight is a high-stakes test of the most complex transportation system ever built by NASA.
From proximity dance-offs in Earth orbit to a record-breaking loop around the lunar far side, here is the step-by-step breakdown of what the crew will do once they clear the tower.
Phase 1: The high Earth orbit “check-out”
Immediately after the SLS rocket’s core stage separates, the crew won’t head for the Moon just yet. Instead, they will spend their first 24 hours in a High Earth Orbit.
This is a safety-first approach designed to keep the astronauts close to home while they ensure Orion’s life-support systems—like the potable water dispenser and the carbon dioxide scrubbing system—are working perfectly.
During this phase, Pilot Victor Glover will perform a Proximity Operations demonstration. He will manually fly Orion near the spent upper stage of the rocket (the ICPS), practicing the delicate maneuvers and formation flying that future missions will need when docking with the Gateway space station or the SpaceX Starship landing system.
Phase 2: The Trans-Lunar Injection (TLI)
Once NASA is confident that Orion is a healthy ship, the crew will fire the engine one final time to break free of Earth’s gravity. This is the Trans-Lunar Injection.
This burn will set them on a free-return trajectory. This is a brilliant bit of orbital mechanics: the path is shaped like a giant figure-eight, meaning that even if Orion’s engines were to fail completely after this point, the Moon’s gravity would naturally swing the capsule back toward Earth for a safe splashdown.
Phase 3: Farther than any human in history
On Flight Day 6, the crew will reach the Moon. Unlike the Apollo missions, which went into a low orbit just 60 miles above the surface, Artemis II will perform a high-altitude flyby.
They will pass approximately 4,600 miles beyond the lunar far side. At this apex, the crew will likely break the all-time record for the farthest humans have ever traveled from Earth—surpassing the record set by the Apollo 13 crew in 1970.
From this vantage point, they will be able to see the entire disk of the Moon and the Earthrise over the lunar horizon, providing invaluable data on how the spacecraft handles deep-space radiation.
Phase 4: The high-speed homecoming
After swinging around the Moon, Orion will spend about four days falling back toward Earth, accelerating the entire way. By the time the capsule hits our atmosphere on April 10, it will be traveling at a blistering 25,000 mph.
The mission concludes with a skip reentry—where the capsule essentially bounces off the atmosphere like a stone on a pond to dissipate heat—before deploying 11 parachutes for a precision splashdown in the Pacific Ocean.
Only after the U.S. Navy recovers the crew will the mission be declared a total success, paving the way for the Artemis III landing in the years to come.