# Artemis II is a test flight designed to evaluate the Orion crew capsule and essential life support and medical systems.

*aerospace · news · 2026-04-01 · Firstpost*

## Key points

- Artemis II is the first crewed mission beyond low Earth orbit since Apollo 17 in 1972.
- A toilet malfunction aboard Orion was encountered by astronaut Christina Koch soon after launch.
- Launch issues with the flight termination system were solved using Space Shuttle legacy hardware and a receiver swap.
- The Artemis II crew will manually pilot Orion for the first time to test docking capabilities for Artemis III.
- The mission's trajectory enables the crew to return safely without engine burns if serious issues arise.

**Countries:** United States, Canada

[Read the full story on Firstpost](https://www.firstpost.com/tech/nasa-artemis-2-launch-live-updates-kennedy-space-center-moon-mission-liveblog-13995636.html)

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Canonical: https://newsio.io/n/058cb06e-d18d-49ee-a730-cbd79d278809/artemis-ii-is-a-test-flight-designed-to-evaluate-the-orion-crew-capsule-and-esse
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