HOUSTON — NASA's Artemis II spacecraft launched on April 1, 2026, from Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, carrying four astronauts on a 10-day mission around the Moon and back.

The crew aboard the Orion spacecraft consists of commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, mission specialist Christina Koch, and mission specialist Jeremy Hansen of the Canadian Space Agency. Splashdown is predicted for Friday, April 10, off the coast of Southern California in the Pacific Ocean at 8:07 p.m. ET.

On Thursday evening of its third day in flight, Orion's main engine performed the translunar injection burn, setting the spacecraft on course for a pass around the Moon. A planned corrective burn on Friday was canceled because the translunar injection was successful. NASA officials said the Space Launch System rocket achieved target orbit with greater than 99 percent accuracy.

The crew encountered several systems issues during the mission's early days. Hours after launch, Koch reported that the toilet fan was jammed, disabling fluid waste disposal. NASA ground teams provided instructions to clear the jam, and the agency announced the issue was resolved by Thursday. "The toilet is an absolutely important component of the vessel," said Blaine Brown, director of Orion spacecraft mechanical systems.

During initial checkout, Orion's toilet pump did not respond because it had not been primed with enough water; after additional water was introduced, the pump began functioning normally. On Friday night, flight controllers observed that urine had frozen in Orion's collection tank, which is about the size of an office trash can. The system is designed to vent collected urine overboard into space, but frozen fluid made that impossible. NASA maneuvered the spacecraft to maximize solar exposure on the tank and vent lines, which partly thawed the frozen urine but did not fully resolve the problem. While the system was not fully functional, the crew collected urine in bags. "I think the fixation on the toilet is kind of human nature," NASA engineer John Honeycutt said. He added, "I know we're in a good state, but I would really like it to be in the best state it can be."

On the third day, the crew held medical conferences with physicians in Houston and reported no space adaptation sickness. They also spoke with their families for the first time at length. Commander Wiseman took and transmitted an image of Earth's night side showing two auroras, zodiacal light, and the far side illuminated by the Sun. The cabin temperature dropped by about 10 degrees Fahrenheit when shell heaters were turned off, and flight controllers adjusted it back to a comfortable level. Cabin humidity was below optimal for carbon dioxide scrubbers, but the crew adjusted it.

For the return to Earth, Orion's Crew Module will separate from its Service Module at 7:33 p.m. ET, 44 minutes before splashdown, exposing its heat shield. Four minutes after separation, the module will use reaction control thrusters to move away and fine-tune its reentry angle. At entry interface at 7:53 p.m. ET, Orion will encounter Earth's atmosphere at an altitude of 400,000 feet. Approximately 24 seconds after reentry, the spacecraft will be engulfed in plasma, resulting in a six-minute communication blackout. NASA shortened the reentry skip profile from 14 to eight minutes for Artemis II to reduce heat load on the heat shield, a change made after chunks of ablative material fell away from Orion's heat shield during the uncrewed Artemis I mission in November 2022, prompting a two-year investigation.

The Mobile Launch Tower sustained moderate damage during the April 1 launch and will return to the Vehicle Assembly Building in Florida for refurbishment. "The work ahead is greater than the work behind us," associate administrator Amit Kshatriya said.