Artemis 2 commander Reid Wiseman is focused on the historic moon mission

Reid Wiseman will command Artemis 2, a 10-day lunar flyby scheduled no earlier than April 1, and he says the moon is "all I think about" as he prepares with his three crewmates.

Reid Wiseman will command the Artemis 2 mission, the first crewed lunar mission since Apollo 17. The flight is planned as a 10-day lunar flyby and is scheduled to launch no earlier than April 1. Wiseman is a retired Navy captain, former test pilot and a NASA astronaut who previously flew to the International Space Station in 2014. He has also served as NASA's chief astronaut and is leading the crew through training and mission preparations. Key details: - Artemis 2 is planned as a 10-day lunar flyby; the launch is scheduled no earlier than April 1. - The crew includes Wiseman and three others: NASA pilot Victor Glover, mission specialist Christina Koch and Canadian Space Agency mission specialist Jeremy Hansen; the article notes milestones tied to those crewmembers. - Wiseman described the mission profile as a series of burns, with translunar injection committing the crew to eight days away from Earth and the crew discussing that decision together. - The article reports mission figures cited by Wiseman: traveling about 250,000 miles from Earth, losing contact for about 45 minutes on the far side of the moon, and reentering at speeds near Mach 39. - Wiseman's background includes deployments as a Navy aviator, test pilot work, selection as a NASA astronaut in 2009, a 2014 ISS mission (Expedition 40/41), and service as NASA chief astronaut from 2020 to 2022. Summary: The article presents Artemis 2 as both a technical mission and a human story, with Wiseman focused on crew decisions, procedures and the personal aspects of preparing for a deep‑space flight. The flight is positioned as a step toward a future crewed lunar landing program and the next scheduled milestone is the planned launch no earlier than April 1.