53 years after Apollo 17 took off to exit Earth’s orbit for the first time, humanity has headed back. On April 1, 2026, astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen launched from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 6:35 p.m. EDT aboard Artemis II. Compared to the final Apollo, NASA isn’t sending Artemis II to land on the moon; rather, they’re sending it to test how well the craft works in deep space. The mission lasted 10 days, splashing down off the coast of California on April 10.

This crew traveled further from Earth than any humans in history. On day 6 in space, Artemis II went 40 minutes with no contact from Earth while the spacecraft traveled around the far part of the moon. On day 10, re-entry into Earth’s orbit cut off communication with Earth again for 10 minutes while the spacecraft traveled into the atmosphere at 400,000 feet, using a new system relying on a plasma heat shield to protect the crew.

Astronomer and professor in the physics and astronomy department at Wayne State University, Ed Cackett, has been studying in this department for over a decade and teaching at Wayne since 2012. He can easily highlight why human exploration matters in an age of advanced robotics.

“Aside from the capabilities, there’s the sense that as humans, we are naturally explorers, we’ve been to the depths of the oceans and the tops of mountains, we are really pushing the boundary of what’s physically possible and capable for humans to do in deep space,” Cackett said. “Humans can make real-time decisions on the fly that don’t require backwards and forwards like with a robot; human eyes are much better at distinctions of what’s really there, rather than a camera.”

On it’s official website, NASA describes Artemis ll as a foundational test flight, needed in order to succeed in future missions. “Under Artemis, NASA will send astronauts on increasingly difficult missions to explore more of the Moon for scientific discovery, economic benefits, and to build on our foundation for the first crewed missions to Mars”.

This mission sets the stage for Artemis lll, launching in 2027 which will have Orion test it’s docking abilities to prepare for landing on the moon. And Artemis IV in early 2028. NASA states, “Artemis IV will be one of the most complex undertakings of engineering and human ingenuity in the history of deep space exploration, exploring the lunar South Pole region”.

Into the history-making re-entry, during the 10 minutes when Earth had no contact with the shuttle, the spacecraft hit Earth’s atmosphere faster than any other mission had, at approximately 25,000 mph. Current honors physics student, Charlie Marks ’27, has been analyzing the mission since takeoff and the physics of the re-entry.

“There is a new type of heat shield on the capsule. The idea is it’s supposed to burn away as they travel, compared to in Artemis I, the heat shield burned away a lot faster than they thought it would,” Marks said. “This time, they’re gonna hit the atmosphere, and the plasma will cover the capsule, blocking radio waves from Earth, meaning NASA has to just trust that their engineering will work.”

With Artemis II successfully completing its mission, NASA has taken a major step towards sending humans to the moon for the first time in decades. This 10-day trip now sets NASA up for more revolutionary missions. If all goes as planned, next time astronauts make this journey into deep space, they won’t just be orbiting the moon; they will be landing on it.

“It’s really a technological demonstration mission. They want to make sure that all of the tech that they’ve developed, work safely and get humans to the moon and back without any errors,” Cackett said. “We’re trying to get as far out as we can in our own solar system, and that’s the part that is inspiring and people get excited about.”