April 15, 2026 | Abbi Duhart | News Editor
In the Artemis II mission, the Orion space capsule was launched into space April 1. This 10-day mission took four astronauts further from Earth than any human has ever been.
The original launch of the capsule was delayed due to technical difficulties with the flight termination system and the battery for the launch abort system. These crucial elements allow the rocket to be destroyed if it goes off course and pulls the capsule away from danger to protect the astronauts aboard in case of an issue.
Observers watched Orion launch with a 10-minute countdown outside the Kennedy Space Center. Jeremy Hansen, the mission specialist, said, “We are going for all humanity.”
The Artemis II crew included American astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch, as well as Canadian astronaut Hansen.
Not only did the rocket reach the farthest distance away from Earth, but it also reached a milestone in the twin rocket boosters being able to separate from the rocket after helping it reach a speed of 10,000 miles per hour.
After the initial launch, there was a short comms issue between the astronauts and the ground crew, meaning they were out of contact until it was fixed.
The crew also lost connection for around 40 minutes when Orion reached a point behind the moon, but this loss was expected and planned for. Additionally, the crew witnessed a total solar eclipse during their mission and saw several small craters on the far side of the moon.
Many were most worried about the landing of Orion, because this is when the heat shield has the potential to burn up and, in turn, burn the ship and astronauts with it. The heat shield is one of the most crucial parts of the rocket because it protects the crew from extreme heat when entering Earth’s atmosphere. Artemis I’s heat shield was visibly damaged after its landing, creating more worry for the landing of Artemis II. Jared Isaacman, the NASA administrator, said that there was extensive testing of the heat shield and they felt comfortable that “we can undertake this mission with lots of margin to spare.” In the end, the crew landed safely in the Pacific Ocean the evening of April 10 as planned.
Orion did not land on the moon in the Artemis II mission, but instead set the stage for a future launch to send humans to the moon for the first time since the Apollo 17 launch in 1972.
The mission was to test how well Orion would work launching into space and to see what changes need to be made to send future astronauts to the moon. Orion’s mission in doing this included manually flying through the Earth’s orbit to practice steering the rocket and checking the rocket’s life support, propulsion, power and navigation systems.
Amit Kshatriya, the NASA associate administrator, said, “I think the path to the surface is open now. This was an incredible test of an incredible machine.”
Building off of Orion’s mission, Artemis III is planned for 2027 to test Orion again and Artemis IV is planned to launch in 2028, where they will attempt to land on the moon.
Contact the author at howlnews@wou.edu
