April 2, 2026, update:
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — NASA’s moonbound astronauts have reason to celebrate, and not just because their launch went so well. Their toilet is now working.
The so-called lunar loo malfunctioned as soon as the Artemis II crew reached orbit Wednesday evening (April 1, 2026). Mission Control guided astronaut Christina Koch through some plumbing tricks and she finally got it going.
The bad news is that it’s so cold inside the Orion capsule — 65 degrees Fahrenheit (18 degrees Celsius) — that the four astronauts are digging into suitcases for long-sleeved clothes. Mission Control is trying to warm things up.
The three Americans and one Canadian are on track to bust out of orbit around Earth on Thursday night and zoom to the moon for a lunar fly-around. It will be Mission Control’s first translunar injection since Apollo’s swan song in 1972.
Until then, the astronauts are savoring the views of Earth from tens of thousands of miles (kilometers) high. Koch told Mission Control that they can make out the entire coastlines of continents and even the South Pole, her old stomping ground.
“It is just absolutely phenomenal,” radioed Koch, who spent a year at an Antarctic research station before joining NASA.
The mission is due to end with a Pacific splashdown on April 10. NASA is counting on the test flight to kickstart the entire Artemis program and lead to a moon landing by two astronauts in 2028. Orion’s toilet may need some design tweaks before that happens.
Located in the floor with a door and curtain for privacy, the capsule’s lone toilet is based on an experimental commode that launched to the International Space Station in 2020. That station potty barely saw any use and has been out of order for years.
Known as the universal waste management system, the compact toilet uses air suction instead of water and gravity to remove waste, similar to earlier space toilets. It’s also designed to better accommodate female astronauts.
Koch and her crewmates had to resort to a bag and funnel system for urinating until she got the toilet working overnight.
Any toilet — even a fitful one — is better than none if you ask any of the six surviving Apollo astronauts.
NASA’s Apollo capsules were too small to accommodate a commode, so the all-male crews relied on bags to relieve themselves throughout the lunar journey. These so-called Apollo bags were repurposed during NASA’s later space shuttle flights; they served as backup whenever the shuttle toilet acted up.
April 2, 2026:
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Four astronauts embarked on a high-stakes flight around the moon Wednesday (April 1, 2026), humanity’s first lunar voyage in more than half a century and the thrilling leadoff in NASA’s push toward a landing in two years.
Carrying three Americans and one Canadian, the 32-story rocket rose from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center where tens of thousands gathered to witness the dawn of this new era. Crowds also jammed the surrounding roads and beaches, reminiscent of the Apollo moonshots in the 1960s and ’70s. It is NASA’s biggest step yet toward establishing a permanent lunar presence.
“On this historic mission, you take with you the heart of this Artemis team, the daring spirit of the American people and our partners across the globe, and the hopes and dreams of a new generation,” launch director Charlie Blackwell-Thompson told the crew right before liftoff. “Good luck, Godspeed Artemis II. Let’s go.”
Artemis II set sail from the same Florida launch site that sent Apollo’s explorers to the moon so long ago. The handful still alive cheered this next generation’s grand adventure as the Space Launch System rocket thundered into the early evening sky, a nearly full moon beckoning some 248,000 miles (400,000 kilometers) away.
Five minutes into the flight, Commander Reid Wiseman saw the team’s target: “We have a beautiful moonrise, we’re headed right at it,” he said from the capsule. On board with him are pilot Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Canada’s Jeremy Hansen. It is the most diverse lunar crew ever with the first woman, person of color and non-U. S. citizen riding in NASA’s new Orion capsule.
“NASA is back in the business of sending astronauts to the moon,” NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman told reporters following liftoff, calling the half-century hiatus a brief intermission.
April 1, 2026:
UNDATED-AP- Launch preparations have begun for the Artemis II mission, NASA’s planned lunar fly-around by four astronauts that will be the first moon trip in 53 years. Tensions were high as hydrogen fuel started flowing into the rocket. The 32-story Space Launch System rocket is poised to blast off Wednesday evening (April 1, 2026) with a two-hour launch window beginning at 6:24 p.m. EDT at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Three Americans and one Canadian will fly around the moon without stopping or even orbiting — then head straight back for a Pacific splashdown. They will set a new distance record for the farthest humans have traveled from Earth. Artemis II is the opening shot of NASA’s grand plans for a permanent moon base.
March 31, 2026:
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — It’s humanity’s first flight to the moon since 1972. In a throwback to Apollo, NASA’s Artemis II mission will send four astronauts on a lunar fly-around. Three Americans and a Canadian will launch into orbit around Earth and then head for the moon. They’ll hurtle several thousand miles beyond the moon, hang a U-turn and then come straight back during the nearly 10-day mission. The Artemis launch will begin at Florida’s Kennedy Space Center where the Apollo moonshots did. The mission will end with a splashdown homecoming into the Pacific.
March 30, 2026:
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — The people who toiled night and day to put astronauts on the moon during Apollo are thrilled that NASA is finally going back. Now in their 80s and 90s, they just wish these Artemis moonshots had happened sooner while more of Apollo’s workforce was still alive. So few of them are left that no reunion is planned to celebrate the upcoming Artemis II flight around the moon with four astronauts. Those who live near Florida’s Kennedy Space Center will watch the launch from their backyards. NASA is targeting the first week in April.
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