Orion's Close Approach to Moon

Date: April 6, 2026 • Location: Rome, Italy

During the Artemis II mission, the Orion made its closest approach to the far side of the Moon and reached its greatest distance from Earth .

Artemis II flew a crew of four on a flyby of the Moon. It was the first crewed flight of the NASA-led Artemis program, the first beyond low Earth orbit (LEO) since Apollo 17 in 1972, and the first beyond LEO not part of the Apollo program. It was also the first crewed flight of the Space Launch System and of the Orion spacecraft, which the crew named Integrity.