Can You See Artemis II From Earth? Here’s What to Know

On April 1, 2026, NASA sent its first manned mission towards the moon in more than 50 years. The Artemis II took flight out of Florida's Kennedy Space Center, aided by the Orion spacecraft. The ship will fly towards the moon, following around the backside of it, and heading back towards Earth in a 10-day flyby mission that NASA is hoping will help it get ready for its plan to build a permanent settlement on the moon.

As such, the milestone achievement is garnering a lot of attention on Earth.

Many people tuned in to watch the rocket take flight, following it and the four astronauts on board the massive spaceship as it headed away from our planet and towards the vast expanse of space. However, once the rocket vanished from view, many wondered if it was possible to potentially catch another glimpse of it in the future.

Can you see Artemis II from Earth? Keep reading to find out, and to learn how you can track the ship as it travels through space from the comfort of your home.

The answer to whether or not you can see Artemis II is a tricky one, since it will depend on where you are, what time it is, and whether you have the right tools to see the ship in the sky. According to Space.com, Artemis II will be visible from Italy, as astronomers from the Virtual Telescope Project track it.

They will live stream their findings beginning on April 2, 2026 at 10:45 p.m. EST. Of course, they will need conditions to be just right in order to catch a look at the ship.

You don't need clear skies to follow Artemis II using NASA's mission tracker. The space agency has created the Artemis Real-time Orbit Website (AROW), which gives you a virtual view of the mission and its progress.

Once you log on, you can see where the ship is, alternating between "mission view" and "spacecraft view," which gives you a chance to see Artemis or to get a glimpse of what the astronauts aboard the ship are seeing. There are also five camera angles to choose from.

AROW also gives you additional insights into the mission and what Artemis II is currently doing by showing how much time has elapsed since they launched, the velocity that the ship is moving at, how far the ship is from Earth, and how many miles they have to go before they reach the moon.

You can also download NASA's mobile app which adds an augmented reality tracker. This will allow you to see where the ship is by pointing your phone at the sky.

The tracker can help those with telescopes to find the ship in the sky, and try to see if they can catch a glimpse of the first manned mission to head towards the moon since the 1970s.