NASA's Moon mission just got a new target launch date and you could be mistaken for thinking it's a prank

NASA has announced a new date for its upcoming Artemis II crewed mission to the Moon – and you’d be forgiven for thinking it was a wind-up.

It’s been more than 50 years since humans went to the Moon. 

But that’s set to change with the upcoming Artemis II mission, which will see NASA sending a team of four astronauts further into space than ever before.

The US space agency is gearing up to send the team on a trip around the Moon and back – and the launch date is closer than you might expect.

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The upcoming Artemis II mission could blast off towards the Moon very soon

The upcoming mission will help pave the way for NASA to land humans on the lunar surface again later this decade. 

For years now, the US space agency has been quietly working away on Artemis II, conducting a range of tests and experiments, including a dramatic simulation of an ocean rescue. 

Three NASA astronauts, Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch, will be joined by Jeremy Hansen of the Canadian Space Agency on the 10-day trip, which will see the team going around the Moon and back. 

Artemis II won’t land on the Moon, but it will see the astronauts head deeper into space than any other human has before. 

“They’re going at least 5,000 nautical miles (around 5753 miles) past the Moon, which is much higher than previous missions have gone,” Artemis II flight director, Jeff Radigan said back in September. 

Back in December 2024, NASA said it would launch Artemis II before the end of April 2026. 

In February, NASA was hopeful that it could launch in early March, but a helium leak was discovered, and the date was pushed back. 

Now, with the original deadline set to hit in just a few weeks, the space agency is eying a potential launch date of April 1 at  6:24 p.m. ET.

Yep, that is April Fools Day, but the mission is no joke, and choosing a launch date is more complex than you might think. 

As well as ironing out any technical issues, planners also have to wait until the Moon is in the right part of its orbit. 

This means, if the April 1 launch doesn’t happen, the only other available dates in April are 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 30, according to the BBC.

You’ll be able to track the journey in real time

NASA has said it’s ‘excited’ about the upcoming mission, particularly as the launch draws closer. 

“Every night I look up at the Moon, and I see it, and I get real excited because I can feel she’s calling us and we’re ready,” NASA’s Lori Glaze said at a press conference last month. 

“The excitement for Artemis II is really, really starting to build; we can really start to feel it. It’s coming.”

And to build a bit of excitement for us back on Earth, NASA has set up a special tracking app – a bit like Flight Radar – where you can keep up with the team’s progress as they make their way out to the Moon, around, and back. 

The Artemis Real-time Orbit Website (AROW) will let you track where the spacecraft and crew are, including their distance from Earth, distance from the Moon, mission duration, and more. 

You can check out the NASA website for more information.

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