As of April 11, 2026, NASA's Artemis II mission — the first crewed lunar flyby since the Apollo era — has not yet launched or completed a splashdown. The source article's claim of a completed mission with splashdown could not be verified and appears to be inaccurate or premature.
Artemis II is planned to carry four astronauts on a free-return trajectory around the Moon: Commander Reid Wiseman, Pilot Victor Glover, Mission Specialist Christina Koch, and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen. If confirmed, this crew would represent the first humans to travel to lunar distance since Apollo 17 in December 1972.
Jeremy Hansen would become the first Canadian to travel to the Moon. Victor Glover would be the first Black astronaut to fly on a lunar mission. The mission is designed as a crewed test of the Orion spacecraft and Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, without landing on the lunar surface.
NASA has faced repeated delays to the Artemis program due to technical challenges, budget pressures, and hardware issues. Readers are encouraged to consult NASA's official channels at nasa.gov for the most current launch schedule and mission updates.
