A blank sheet of paper and a pencil, to write down what it feels like.
Four astronauts are about to do something no human being has done since December 1972: fly to the Moon. NASA's Artemis 2 mission is on the launchpad at Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, with liftoff targeted for 6:24 p.m. local time on April 1 — around 10:24 p.m. in the United Kingdom — weather and technical conditions permitting.
The rocket carrying them there is enormous. The Space Launch System stands 98 meters tall, weighs roughly 2.6 million kilograms when fully fueled, and carries more than three million liters of liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen in its orange core stage alone. Two solid rocket boosters and four main engines will push the vehicle off the pad and out of Earth's atmosphere. Sitting at the very top of all that machinery is the Orion crew capsule — a module five meters wide and three meters high, with about ten cubic meters of livable space. That is roughly the interior of a medium-wheelbase Ford Transit van. Four people will call it home for ten days.
The crew is Commander Reid Wiseman, 50, a sixteen-year NASA veteran with six months of spaceflight experience; pilot Victor Glover, 49, a former test pilot who will handle the controls; mission specialist Christina Koch, 47, who holds the longest cumulative time in space of the four, with a full year off Earth; and mission specialist Jeremy Hansen, 50, a former Canadian fighter pilot for whom this will be a first spaceflight. Together they would bring the total number of humans who have flown around the Moon from 24 to 28.
Life inside Orion will require adaptation. The four seats used during launch will be folded away once the crew reaches orbit to free up room. In weightlessness, the ceiling becomes usable workspace, with control panels mounted there, and storage lockers sit beneath the floor. A flywheel exercise machine provides daily cardiovascular workouts. There is a toilet — something the Apollo astronauts famously lacked — though it offers little in the way of privacy. Each astronaut has selected personal meals for the journey, and each was permitted to bring a small number of personal items. Glover packed a Bible and family heirlooms. Koch is carrying handwritten notes from people she loves. Hansen brought Moon pendants belonging to his wife and three daughters. Wiseman chose a blank sheet of paper and a pencil, intending to write down his thoughts as the spacecraft rounds the Moon.
The mission had already been delayed twice — once by hydrogen fuel leaks, once by clogged helium lines — pushing the launch window back by two months. NASA is now targeting a window that runs from April 1 through April 6, with the exact mission length, expected to be around ten days, depending on when liftoff actually occurs and the relative positions of Earth and Moon at that moment.
The flight plan unfolds in stages. After launch, the crew will climb to a high orbit roughly 45,000 miles above Earth to run systems checks — including, notably, the toilet. The solid rocket boosters and core stage will fall away, and about three hours in, the final propulsion stage will detach, leaving the crew to fly Orion manually for the first time. That moment is also the last easy opportunity to turn back. If everything checks out, they will fire the trans-lunar injection burn and commit to the Moon.
During the transit, the crew will conduct experiments and rehearse procedures for their radiation shelter, which exists in case of a solar storm. When they reach the Moon, they will pass around its far side at a distance of between 6,500 and 9,500 kilometers from the surface, spending three hours observing the lunar terrain through Orion's windows. For somewhere between thirty and fifty minutes, they will be completely out of contact with Earth, hidden behind the Moon.
The return journey takes four more days. Re-entry will heat the capsule's exterior to 2,700 degrees Celsius — roughly half the temperature of the Sun's surface. Parachutes will deploy, and the module will splash down in the Pacific Ocean off the California coast, where a recovery team will be waiting.
Artemis 2 is not the end of the story. It is a proving flight, a crewed rehearsal before more ambitious missions follow. NASA has outlined plans for a permanent lunar base, and Artemis 2 is the step that must go right before any of that becomes possible. The four people inside that Transit van-sized capsule are carrying a great deal with them.
Notable Quotes
Each astronaut chose personal items for the journey — a Bible and family heirlooms, handwritten notes from loved ones, Moon pendants for a wife and daughters, and one blank piece of paper with a pencil.— NASA, via crew disclosures
The Hearth Conversation Another angle on the story
Ten days in a space the size of a van — is that actually survivable, physically and psychologically?
It's tight, but the crew trained for exactly this. They've spent months living in close quarters together, which is part of why crew selection matters as much as technical skill.
What's the significance of the Moon flyby itself — they're not landing, right?
Correct. They'll pass within 6,500 to 9,500 kilometers of the surface and observe it for about three hours. The point is to prove the spacecraft and crew can make the journey safely before anyone attempts a landing.
That window behind the Moon where they lose contact — thirty to fifty minutes — what does that feel like from a mission control perspective?
It's a planned blackout, not an emergency, but it's still a period where nothing can be done from Earth. The crew is entirely on their own. That's a weight that doesn't go away just because it's expected.
Why does Reid Wiseman bring a blank piece of paper?
He said he wants to write down his thoughts while flying around the Moon. There's something honest about that — no artifact, no symbol, just a man with a pencil trying to record what it actually feels like.
The last crewed lunar flight was 1972. Why did it take this long to go back?
Budget, political will, competing priorities. The Apollo program ended not because the technology failed but because the funding and the national urgency did. Artemis is the result of a much slower, more deliberate rebuild.
What happens if something goes wrong at launch?
There's a Launch Abort System at the top of the rocket designed to pull the crew capsule away from the vehicle in milliseconds if needed. It's the last line of defense in the most dangerous phase of the mission.
And after Artemis 2 — what's actually being planned?
A lunar base. NASA has announced a $20 billion moon base program. Artemis 2 is the crewed test flight that has to succeed before any of that becomes more than a blueprint.