Artemis II and the New Moon Race: Americans Are Going Where No Man Has Gone Before

Only weeks from today, three Americans (and one Canadian) could be on their way to the moon.

As early as the first week of February, if everything goes according to plan, NASA astronauts will embark on the Artemis II mission — a ten-day sojourn that will send humans into lunar orbit for the first time in more than half a century. Not only is the forthcoming mission to the moon the first crewed journey into deep space the first of its kind since 1972, but Artemis II will follow an orbital trajectory around the moon that, at its farthest point, will be mankind’s deepest ever journey into space.

About the Author

Noah Rothman

Noah Rothman is a senior writer at National Review. His third book, Blood and Progress: A Century of Left-Wing Violence, was published by Hachette in May 2026.

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Only weeks from today, three Americans (and one Canadian) could be on their way to the moon.

As early as the first week of February, if everything goes according to plan, NASA astronauts will embark on the Artemis II mission — a ten-day sojourn that will send humans into lunar orbit for the first time in more than half a century. Not only is the forthcoming mission to the moon the first crewed journey into deep space the first of its kind since 1972, but Artemis II will follow an orbital trajectory around the moon that, at its farthest point, will be mankind’s deepest ever journey into space.

About the Author

Noah Rothman

Noah Rothman is a senior writer at National Review. His third book, Blood and Progress: A Century of Left-Wing Violence, was published by Hachette in May 2026.