Artemis 2 launches four astronauts around the moon today on a roughly 10-day free-return mission that will test Orion, SLS, life support, and human-health science ahead of Artemis III.
It is NASA's first crewed lunar mission since Apollo and the certification flight that has to work before the agency tries to land astronauts near the moon's south pole.
The mission also carries real science value. Artemis 2 will gather data on crew health, radiation, and spacecraft habitability while flying a path that turns a launch-day spectacle into a practical certification milestone for the broader lunar campaign.
