Artemis II Crew Prepares for Historic Lunar Mission

HOUSTON — Artemis II Commander Reid Wiseman told reporters he hopes history will eventually “forget” his crew’s upcoming mission around the moon—because it will mean even greater space milestones have been achieved.

“I hope we’re forgotten,” Wiseman said on Sept. 24. “If we are forgotten, then Artemis has been successful. We have humans on Mars. We have humans out on the moons of Saturn. We are expanding into the solar system.”

His remarks reflected a shared perspective among the crew that their journey, while historic, is primarily about preparing the way for Artemis III, which is planned to land on the lunar surface.

Building Toward Artemis III

Pilot Victor Glover reinforced the point: “Our mission success is built on handing off a starting point to Artemis III that sets our country and our partners up to go back to the surface of the moon.”

Wiseman and Glover, joined by Mission Specialist Christina Koch and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen, addressed the press at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. Together, they will fly aboard the Orion capsule they named Integrity, embarking on the first crewed mission of the spacecraft and its service module atop the Space Launch System rocket.

A Mission of Firsts

Artemis II will be the first mission to send astronauts around the moon in more than 50 years, marking the first time humans are both in low Earth orbit and traveling deeper into space simultaneously. The crew also plans to connect with colleagues aboard the International Space Station while orbiting the moon.

Depending on launch timing, the astronauts may become the first humans to witness portions of the far side of the moon previously hidden in shadow during Apollo missions. Artemis II also has the potential to break distance and speed records set by earlier lunar missions.

Test Flight at Its Core

Despite the historic stakes, the crew stressed that Artemis II is primarily a test flight—evaluating Orion’s systems, including manual rendezvous maneuvers in high Earth orbit, new onboard exercise equipment, and a slate of scientific experiments. They will also make geological observations of the lunar surface to relay to scientists on Earth.

“I don’t think about it,” Glover told The Epoch Times when asked about the magnitude of the mission. “That’s a distraction. If we want to live up to the standards that we owe the American and Canadian [people]—and humanity in general, we have to be able to focus and know what the next right thing is to do. And so I actually spend a lot of time clearing that out of my head so I can focus on my job.”

International Partnership

While maintaining their focus, the crew also expressed excitement about their role in advancing global cooperation in space.

“We are bringing together the world,” Wiseman said. “We are bringing together an amazing workforce, and they are bringing together an amazing vehicle. And at the end of all that, when you squeeze it all down, they create magic.”

Hansen, set to become the first Canadian to travel into deep space, praised both NASA’s leadership and Canada’s contributions. He said Canadians should take pride in their country’s seat aboard Integrity and its role in the Artemis program.