Artemis 2 honored on Time's 'Back to the Moon' commemorative cover

Time published a special 'Back to the Moon' cover on Jan. 30 featuring Artemis 2 astronauts, and the mission is planned as a roughly 10-day lunar flyby that would send humans farther beyond the moon than ever before.

Time magazine released a special commemorative issue that spotlights the Artemis 2 crew as their mission approaches. The cover shows astronauts Reid Wiseman, Jeremy Hansen, Victor Glover and Christina Koch, and the issue includes a feature by Jeffrey Kluger titled "Back to the Moon." Kluger places Artemis 2 in the context of Apollo-era missions and describes the public uplift such missions can generate. NASA's Space Launch System vehicle for Artemis 2 was described as poised on Kennedy Space Center's Launch Pad 39B with a launch window reported as early as Feb. 8. Key details: - The Time cover pairs portraits of the four Artemis 2 astronauts with Jeffrey Kluger's in-depth article "Back to the Moon." - Artemis 2 is described as a roughly 10-day lunar flyby mission carrying the crew in an Orion spacecraft. - The article and reports say the SLS rocket was positioned at Launch Pad 39B and a launch window was listed as early as Feb. 8 (reported as). - The mission's trajectory is reported to carry humans about 4,700 miles (7,560 kilometers) beyond the far side of the moon, farther than any humans have traveled and exceeding the Apollo 13 record of about 158 miles (254 km). - NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman posted side-by-side Time covers and wrote that Artemis 2 will travel farther into space than any human in history and noted Artemis goals to return astronauts to the moon and establish a lunar base before the end of 2028. Summary: The Time issue frames Artemis 2 as both a technical milestone and a cultural moment, connecting the flight to Apollo-era milestones and describing its potential public resonance. The mission was reported with a launch window as early as Feb. 8 for a 10-day lunar flyby; further updates and the launch outcome are undetermined at this time.