Artemis II — Interactive
Fly the Artemis II Trajectory
Scroll through ten days. Four astronauts. The Moon closer than any human in fifty years.
The Artemis II trajectory needed no engine burn to return. The Moon's gravity bent their path into a free-return arc — a road home written in physics. On April 11, 2026, Orion splashed down in the Pacific. They had traveled 1.4 million kilometers and come back exactly where they started.
For more on what the crew observed during their flyby, read “What Artemis II Saw: The Moon Up Close.” For the story of the basin that gives this publication its name, see “Mare Imbrium: The Sea of Rains.”