Resolution Criteria

Artemis II launched on April 1, 2026, from the Kennedy Space Center. This market resolves based on specific outcomes during the mission. Outcomes should be verifiable through official NASA sources at https://www.nasa.gov/mission/artemis-ii/ or major news outlets covering the mission in real-time.

Background

The ten-day mission is carrying NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch, along with Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen, on a free-return trajectory around the Moon and back to Earth. Glover will become the first person of color, Koch the first woman, and Wiseman the oldest person to leave low Earth orbit. Hansen will become the first non-U.S. citizen to travel beyond low Earth orbit and to the Moon's vicinity. This is the second flight of the Space Launch System (SLS), the first crewed mission of the Orion spacecraft, and the first crewed mission beyond low Earth orbit since Apollo 17 in 1972.

Considerations

Unlike Apollo 8 and Apollo 10, which orbited the Moon without landing, Artemis II will not enter lunar orbit. Instead, Artemis II will fly around the Moon on a free-return trajectory, like Apollo 13 in 1970. Artemis 2 astronauts will only spend about three hours on their closest pass of the moon's surface.

Artemis II: NASA’s First Crewed Lunar Flyby in 50 Years - NASA

Meet the Artemis II crew and learn how NASA’s 10-day lunar flyby mission will test deep space systems and pave the way for future Moon landings.