We're going back to the surface of the moon, but not in 2026.
Maybe you've heard some buzz around NASA's Artemis 2 mission, which has made headlines as the space agency's first human lunar mission in more than 50 years. The venture is a historic undertaking – one that will send the first Black man, first woman and first Canadian on a journey that will take them farther from Earth than any humans before them.
But it's not the mission that will return humans to the surface of the moon for the first time since the era of Apollo lunar landings came to an end in 1972.
Instead of touching down on the surface, the four Artemis 2 astronauts are due to circle the moon in NASA's Orion capsule before heading back to Earth. That highly-anticipated moon landing? That should come about two years from now.
As NASA works toward a potential April 1 launch of the Artemis II mission, here's what to know about how the venture sets the stage for a future moon landing.
