What is the Artemis II mission testing? Spacesuits, radiation, navigation, and more

The four Artemis II scientists participating in NASA’s record-breaking lunar flyby are doing more than just venturing beyond the moon — they are also testing how the agency’s infrastructure works in deep space.

Artemis II commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, and mission specialists Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen made history on April 6 as they reached the farthest distance from Earth that humanity has ever traveled.

Now on their way home to Earth, the astronauts aboard the Orion vessel have been conducting systems and performance tests as they pave the way for future NASA astronauts to take the next step and return to the moon’s surface.

“They will conduct manual spacecraft operations and monitor automated activities; evaluate Orion’s life-support, propulsion, power, thermal, and navigation systems; perform proximity operations activities; assess habitability and crew interfaces; and participate in science activities, including lunar surface observations and human health studies, that will inform science