Is Artemis II Landing on the Moon? Clarifying the Details of This Confusing Lunar Mission

The forthcoming Artemis II lunar mission has countless space fans around the world counting the days until the mission officially launches. The term "lunar mission" has many fans and observers assuming that the four-person crew will land on the moon, but is the Artemis II crew actually planning to do so? How could a lunar mission not entail actually touching down on the moon?

These are understandable questions to have, especially for a record-setting mission like Artemis II.

Below, we explain the details of the upcoming Artemis II lunar mission, the plan as we know it today, and other important logistics for this exciting mission. Continue reading to learn all about the Artemis II mission and whether or not the crew intends to land on the moon.

As CNN Science clarifies in a report, the 10-day Artemis II mission will travel around the far side of the moon, but the space crew won't actually be landing on the moon. Why, you might be wondering, will a lunar mission see its crew travel around the moon, but fail to touch down on it?

“The short answer is because it doesn’t have the capability. This is not a lunar lander,” Patty Casas Horn, the deputy lead for Mission Analysis and Integrated Assessments at NASA, said, per CNN Science.

Touching down on the moon is not among NASA’s priorities for the Artemis II mission. However, according to CNN Science, "there’s plenty to do without touching the lunar surface. Crew safety and health come first, which includes getting the astronauts back home. Vehicle safety and health are secondary, and the mission objectives — such as testing navigation, propulsion, and other onboard systems — come after that."

Although we don't yet know the exact launch date, we do have some exciting recent updates. On Jan. 17, the Artemis II Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft reached Launch Pad 39B at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, according to a NASA press release.

One or more so-called "wet dress rehearsals" are scheduled for no later than Feb. 2 to ensure everything is running as intended and that the vehicle is ready for flight.

Per the Artemis II mission page, the launch will occur "no later than April 2026."

“We are moving closer to Artemis II, with rollout just around the corner,” Lori Glaze, acting associate administrator for NASA’s Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate, said. “We have important steps remaining on our path to launch and crew safety will remain our top priority at every turn, as we near humanity’s return to the Moon.”

Fans have been submitting their names on the NASA website to be included on an SD card that will fly inside Orion when the Artemis II mission launches. A graphic NASA "passport" is also presented to fans who sign up to have their names included on the historic flight.

According to the Kennedy Space Center, the Artemis II mission marks the first time that NASA is sending humans back on a path toward the moon since 1972.

As the National Air and Space Museum reports, the Apollo 17 astronauts were the last humans to visit the moon when they landed on Dec. 11, 1972.