NASA astronauts reach orbit on historic mission — When will Artemis 2 reach the moon?

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The crew will perform a fly-around before returning to Earth. They will not circle around the moon, no stopping for a moonwalk

The Artemis II crewed lunar mission launches at Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida,

In humanity's first lunar voyage in more than half a century, four astronauts aboard the Artemis II have reached orbit. They will circle the Earth for about 25 hours before catapulting toward the moon.

Artemis II commander Reid Wiseman led the charge into space with "Let's go to the moon!" accompanied by pilot Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Canada's Jeremy Hansen.

It is the most diverse lunar crew ever, with the first woman, person of color and non-US citizen riding in NASA's new Orion capsule.

When will Artemis 2 reach the moon?

Artemis II will reportedly reach the moon on the 6th day of its 10-day mission, which is Monday, April 6.

The spacecraft will approach the neighbourhood of the moon from the western lunar hemisphere, coming as close as 4,000 miles from the lunar surface.

The crew will perform a fly-around before returning to Earth. They will not circle around the moon, no stopping for a moonwalk - just a quick out-and-back lasting less than 10 days.

The to-do list for the Artemis II crew after launch

The four-astronaut Artemis II crew will be sticking close to home for the next day or so, checking out the capsule in orbit around Earth.

The upper stage of the rocket will separate, and the crew will manually fly the Orion capsule toward it to practice docking, preparing for future missions to the moon's surface.

Tomorrow night, they will fire Orion's main engine to escape Earth's gravity and head for the moon, 248,000 miles away.

10 days of Artemis II: A timeline

Earth Orbit – First 24 hours: Hours after the launch, the Artemis II crew is actually still orbiting the Earth. They will spend the first day in a "High Earth Orbit" to test the Orion spacecraft's life-support systems before they commit to the long trip.
Trans-Lunar Injection – The “Slingshot”: Later today or early tomorrow, the spacecraft will perform a major engine burn to break Earth's gravity and begin the trek to the Moon.
The 4-Day Transit: Once that burn is complete, it takes roughly four days to coast across the 240,000-mile gap between Earth and the Moon.
Arrival at Day 6: The crew is scheduled to reach their closest point to the Moon on Monday, April 6.

After swinging around the far side of the Moon, taking the crew farther from Earth than any human has ever travelled, the astronauts will spend in excess of 96 hours, using the Moon's gravity, to "free-return" back home, with a planned splashdown in the Pacific Ocean on April 10.

Why is it taking 6 days to reach Moon? The physics behind it

To ensure the safety of the crew, NASA purposefully limits the spacecraft's speed during the Trans-Lunar Injection (TLI) to 24,500 mph. While a speed of 25,000 mph or higher would reach the Moon faster, it would also mean reaching "escape velocity," severing the gravitational link to Earth.

By staying slightly below that threshold, the mission utilises a free-return trajectory. This means that if the engines were to fail or the guidance system went offline, Earth's gravity would still exert enough pull to bring the ship home. The Moon’s gravity acts like a second baseman in a double play: it catches the spacecraft as it whips around the lunar farside and "flings" it directly back toward Earth.

The risk of going faster

If the spacecraft exceeded 25,000 mph, it would break free from this gravitational loop. Although the Moon would still attempt to sling the ship back toward Earth, the excessive speed would cause it to overshoot the planet. Instead of a safe return, Artemis II would fly wide of its target and be lost in deep space.

About the Author

Arshdeep Kaur

Arshdeep Kaur is a Senior Content Producer at Mint, where she reports and edits across national and international politics, business and culture‑adjacent trending stories for digital audience. With five years in the newsroom, she strives to balance the speed and rigor of fast‑moving news cycles and longer, context‑rich explainers. Before joining LiveMint, Arshdeep served as a Senior Sub‑Editor at Business Standard and earlier as a Sub‑Editor at Asian News International (ANI). Her experience spans live news flows, enterprise features, and multi‑platform packaging. At Mint, she regularly writes explainers, quick takes, and visuals‑led stories that are optimized for search and social, while maintaining the publication’s standards for accuracy and clarity. She collaborates closely with editors and the audience team to frame angles that resonate with readers in India and abroad, and to translate complex developments into accessible, high‑impact journalism. Arshdeep's academic training underpins her interest towards policy and markets. She earned an MA in Economics from Panjab University and holds a Post‑Graduate Diploma in Broadcast Journalism from the India Today Media Institute (ITMI). This blend of economics and broadcast storytelling informs her coverage of public policy, elections, macro themes, and the consumer‑internet zeitgeist. Arshdeep is based in New Delhi, where she tracks breaking developments and longer‑horizon storylines that shape public discourse.

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