NASA is all set to launch its latest moon mission with Artemis II, which aims to send astronauts further than any crew has travelled before. The Artemis II rocket is scheduled to blast off as early as Feb. 6, with additional launch windows available later in February, March, and April, 2026.
The crew includes NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch, along with Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen. They will be part of a 10-day journey around the Moon, marking the first human lunar flyby since 1972.
“This historic mission will send humans farther from Earth than ever before and deliver the insights needed for us to return to the Moon — all with America at the helm,” according to NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman.
Space enthusiasts will be excited to find out that NASA has invited people to send their names to the Moon aboard the Artemis II mission. The deadline to register for this is Jan. 21.
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People who register will receive a digital boarding pass as a keepsake, and when Artemis II lifts off, their names will be part of the journey on an SD card tucked inside the Orion spacecraft.
In an X post on Monday, NASA shared, “1.5 million names are flying around the Moon on Artemis II. Is yours one of them? It’s not too late to add your name to the mission—and it’s absolutely free.” People can submit their names in English or Spanish.
“This is one way for the public to feel like they’re a little closer to the mission than just being spectators,” said space collectibles expert Robert Pearlman, editor of the space memorabilia website collectSPACE. Everyone who enters their name can download a collectable “boarding pass” to commemorate the mission.
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NASA routinely offers similar opportunities for similar missions. “Right now there are names aboard the Perseverance rover on Mars, the Parker Solar Probe at the sun and the Europa Clipper mission on its way to Jupiter’s moon Europa,” Pearlman says.
The Artemis II mission is part of NASA’s plan to resume deep-space exploration. In the Artemis I flight in 2022, an SLS rocket sent an uncrewed Orion spacecraft to the moon and back. NASA hopes to send a third mission — if all goes well and it receives enough funding — that will send astronauts to the moon’s surface for a stay of roughly a month, perhaps as soon as 2027.