Here’s what to know about Artemis II, the first time NASA sent humans to the moon and why some people (ahem, Kim Kardashian) believe it never happened.
Humans have not visited the moon since 1972 − but Artemis II got us one step closer.
NASA’s Artemis II, the first crewed moon mission in 54 years, launched April 1, 2026, from Florida, sending three Americans and one Canadian closer to the lunar surface than anyone before. And although the four astronauts didn’t land on the moon, the 10-day journey around it paves the way for a lunar landing in the years ahead.
The Artemis II astronauts made spaceflight history Monday, April 6, during a trailblazing lunar flyby, and they broke a record: traveling farther from Earth than any humans ever have, surpassing the distance set in 1970 during the infamous Apollo 13 mission.
That mission, which required an emergency return to Earth, reached a distance of 248,655 miles away. The Artemis II astronauts passed that milestone – and then went thousands of miles farther, reaching a maximum distance from Earth at 252,756 miles, according to NASA.
Their trek allowed the crew to see the full disk of our celestial neighbor as they witnessed lunar sights that no other humans before – not even the Apollo astronauts – have experienced in person.
Legendary Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin, the second person to walk on the moon, watched coverage last week of the Space Launch Systems rocket launch from Kennedy Space Center in Florida. With daughter Jan Aldrin by his side at his home in California, the pop culture phenomenon saw NASA’s SLS rocket lift off. Jan Aldrin shared photos of her 96-year-old father watching Artemis II with the statement: “It was amazing to share the lift off of Artemis II with my father watching the launch of a new generation of explorers to leave the planet. Congratulations to the Artemis team and Godspeed to the crew of Artemis II.”
But with the fanfare and excitement about one of humanity’s greatest milestones this year and this decade comes … skepticism. Wild conspiracy theories. Accusations about fakery and the moon landing.
Some conspiracy theorists don’t believe we’ve ever been to the moon at all, despite the evidence from the Apollo lunar missions.
Here’s what to know about NASA’s Artemis II rocket launch from Kennedy Space Center − witnessed live by hundreds of thousands of people on the Space Coast in Florida − what to know about the first time NASA sent humans to the moon, and some moon landing conspiracy debunking.
What is NASA’s Artemis II mission?
Though no lunar landing is in store for this part of NASA’s Artemis program, the Artemis II mission sent a crew of four astronauts on a historic 10-day journey around the moon to test systems and hardware for future expeditions to the surface.
The most important leg of the historic moon mission is complete after the four astronauts spent hours Monday, April 6, making observations of the moon’s far side, which is permanently faced away from Earth. The close approach, known as a lunar flyby, was a trailblazing moment in spaceflight, taking astronauts Reid Wiseman, Christina Koch and Victor Glover of NASA, as well as Jeremy Hansen of the Canadian Space Agency, the farthest any human has been from Earth.
In the days ahead, the crew members aboard NASA’s Orion capsule will now make the trek back home and prepare for a water landing off the coast of California.
The Artemis II crew saw parts of the far side of the moon that not even the Apollo astronauts witnessed.
When did NASA Artemis II rocket launch in Florida?
The Artemis II mission launched at 6:35 p.m. ET Wednesday, April 1, 2026, on April Fool’s Day, hours before the April full moon, from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida.
Did we really land on the moon? Moon landing conspiracies, debunked
Yes, we really did land on the moon … six times, to be exact.
NASA’s Apollo 11 mission made history in July 1969 as the first-ever spaceflight to land humans on the moon.
Astronaut Neil Armstrong, commander of the mission, became known as the first person to step on to the lunar surface, followed by astronaut Buzz Aldrin, who piloted in the Lunar Module Eagle to the surface.
For more than two hours, the astronauts roamed the lunar surface – collecting moon samples and exploring a site they named “Tranquility Base” – before returning to the module to fly back up to orbit. There, they rejoined astronaut Michael Collins on the Command Module Columbia to make their way back to Earth.
But in the decades since, the iconic mission has become the source of several major conspiracy theories, primarily one claiming that the landing itself was a hoax entirely staged by NASA.
The conspiracy theories claim that the motivation behind “faking a moon landing” was simply America’s desire to win the space race.
Hollywood has taken a creative direction on this topic, too: Channing Tatum and Scarlett Johansson starred in “Fly Me to the Moon,” which had a plot about faking the moon landing − ironically called “Project Artemis.” Scenes were shot locally at Kennedy Space Center, Cocoa Beach and Cape Canaveral, Florida. The romantic comedy was released July 12, 2024, ahead of the 55th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing.
“If you find yourself in a debate questioning whether humankind first stepped on the Moon on 20 July 1969 the chances are that you are woefully underprepared,” the Institute of Physics website says.
“Most people take it as gospel that the U.S. government, NASA, the 12 astronauts in total who have walked on the Moon and the 400,000 people involved in the Apollo program would have neither the will nor the way to fake one of humanity’s greatest ever achievements.”
If you’re looking for physical evidence of a moon landing, though, there are more than 8,000 publicly available photos, thousands of hours of video footage, transcripts and audio recordings of all air-to-ground conversations and more than 380 kilograms of moon rock that the Apollo astronauts brought back to Earth.
Kim Kardashian questions moon landing with Sarah Paulson and on ‘Kardashians’ reality TV show
In 2025, the then-acting head of NASA called out Kim Kardashian after the famous mogul and reality television star claimed that the iconic 1969 moon landing was faked.
In an October 2025 episode of “The Kardashians,” a Hulu reality TV series that follows the famous family during their daily lives, Kardashian approaches actress Sarah Paulson while the two are on set in Ryan Murphy’s upcoming legal drama series, “All’s Fair.”
Kardashian, speaking to Paulson, references interviews featuring Aldrin, now 96, and who Kardashian refers to as “the other one” – presumably, the late Armstrong – in which she insists the astronauts themselves cast doubt on the moon landing.
Kardashian seems to specifically point to an interview Aldrin gave in which, when asked about the scariest moment of his lunar journey, he replies: “It didn’t happen.” Though Aldrin appeared to mean he was never scared at all, conspiracy theorists have interpreted the comment as an admission that the landing was faked.
“So, I think it didn’t happen,” Kardashian concludes, as Paulson nods. Paulson then adds, “I’m gonna go on a serious deep dive.”
The clip ends with Kardashian saying that she sends Paulson “conspiracies all the time.”
The episode in which Kardashian made the comments aired Thursday, Oct. 30, 2025, a day after the death of Aldrin’s wife, Anca Faur Aldrin, at 66.
The brief scene prompted a response from Sean Duffy, who Trump had appointed as the acting administrator of NASA amid the search for a permanent leader at the time.
Sharing the clip on social media, Duffy tagged Kardashian and said, “we’ve been to the moon before – 6 times!”
Lianna Norman and Eric Lagatta are trending reporters for the USA TODAY NETWORK-Florida, covering rocket launches, breaking news and more. You can get all of Florida’s best content directly in your inbox each weekday by signing up for the free newsletter, Florida TODAY, at https://floridatoday.com/newsletters.
