In early 2026, four US astronauts will fly around the Moon as the next step in NASA's goal of establishing a long-term presence on the Moon for science and exploration. The project is called “Artemis”, and it is comprised of three successive missions. In November 2022, the first mission called “Artemis I” was an unmanned Orion rocket, which was successfully tested for deep space flight. This will be followed in early 2026 by “Artemis II”, which will be a ten day flight with a crew of four astronauts who will fly around the moon and back to Earth. This mission will be the farthest trip ever by humans into deep space. The Artemis II astronauts will travel as much as 16,000 km beyond the far side of the moon. They will fly past the moon and follow a wide circle around the back of the moon. Their rocket will then perform a figure eight pattern to attain their trajectory for the flight back to Earth. This will pave the way for Artemis III which will actually land its crew on the Moon. This program’s goal is not just to land humans on the Moon for the first time in many years. It is the beginning of a sustained exploration of the lunar south pole and beyond to prepare for an eventual trip to Mars.