Bring the Artemis II lunar mission into your classroom
Looking for Artemis II lessons that go beyond watching the launch replay? Forward Education just released three new Artemis II classroom activities that connect grades 6 to 9 students to NASA's lunar mission with coding and robotics. Each micro:bit space science project uses a Forward Education kit, comes with customizable slides, and aligns to Math, Science, and Computer Science curriculum. Teachers can run the activities one at a time or follow them in sequence as a full unit on space science and computer science fundamentals.
The world is watching Artemis II. These lessons help students do something with that moment.
Why Artemis II is a teaching moment worth using
Artemis II is the first crewed flight beyond low Earth orbit since 1972. For most students in your classroom, it is the first lunar mission of their lifetime. That kind of real-world relevance is hard to manufacture, and it gives educators a rare hook for teaching the science, engineering, and problem-solving behind human spaceflight.
The new project series turns that hook into something students can build, code, and test themselves.
The three new Artemis II classroom activities
Each activity pairs a Forward Education kit with curriculum-connected lessons and ready-to-use slides. Educators can teach them standalone or run all three as a sequenced unit.
Activity 1: Hello Moon
Kit: micro:bit and CHARGE for micro:bit Students get their first taste of space science and micro:bit coding. This is the entry point for classrooms new to coding and robotics, and it sets up the projects that follow.
Activity 2: Lunar Rover Exploration
Kit: Climate Action Kit or Coding for Good Kit Students build and code a working lunar rover, then test how it handles the challenges of moving across an unfamiliar surface. The activity connects engineering design, sensors, and computational thinking to the real problems rover teams solve at NASA and the Canadian Space Agency.
Lunar Rover Exploration activity page
Activity 3: Mission to the Moon
Kit: Climate Action Kit or Coding for Good Kit Students plan and code a full lunar mission, drawing on what they learned in the first two activities. This is the capstone, and it gives students space to apply problem-solving and design thinking the way real mission teams do.
Mission to the Moon activity page
Built on a program funded by the Canadian Space Agency
The Artemis II series is a refresh of Mission on the Moon, a program Forward Education developed with the Faculty of Education at Wilfrid Laurier University. The original program is funded in part by the Canadian Space Agency and was built to grow coding skills, digital literacy, and STEM interest among students in grades 6 to 9.
The new Artemis II activities carry that mission forward and connect it to a moment students are watching unfold in real time.
What is the Artemis II mission?
Artemis II is a NASA-led mission that sent four astronauts on a roughly 10-day flight around the Moon and back. The mission launched from Kennedy Space Center on April 1, 2026, aboard NASA's Space Launch System rocket. It is the second flight of the Space Launch System, the first crewed flight of the Orion spacecraft, and the first human mission beyond low Earth orbit since Apollo 17 in 1972.
Who is on the Artemis II crew?
Four astronauts are flying the mission:
- Reid Wiseman (NASA), commander
- Victor Glover (NASA), pilot
- Christina Koch (NASA), mission specialist
- Jeremy Hansen (Canadian Space Agency), mission specialist
The crew includes several historic firsts. Christina Koch is the first woman to travel beyond low Earth orbit. Victor Glover is the first person of color to do so. Jeremy Hansen is both the first Canadian and the first non-American to fly beyond low Earth orbit.
How far is Artemis II traveling?
The mission is expected to set new records for human spaceflight, including a maximum distance of roughly 252,800 miles (about 406,800 kilometers) from Earth. At its farthest point past the Moon, the crew will reach about 4,700 miles (7,600 kilometers) beyond the lunar surface. Orion is expected to reenter Earth's atmosphere at close to 25,000 miles per hour (40,000 kilometers per hour).
What are the goals of Artemis II?
The main goal is to test Orion's systems with a crew on board, including life support and manual flight controls. The data and lessons from this mission will help confirm that Orion is ready for future flights to the lunar surface and, eventually, to Mars.
Bring Artemis II lessons into your classroom
The three Artemis II classroom activities are live in the Forward Education project library. Each one comes with customizable slides, curriculum connections, and the kit list you need to get started.
[CTA: Explore the Artemis II projects in our project library]
Key takeaways
- Forward Education released three new Artemis II lessons and classroom activities for grades 6 to 9.
- The activities use the micro:bit, CHARGE for micro:bit, the Climate Action Kit, or the Coding for Good Kit.
- Each project includes customizable slides and connects to Math, Science, and Computer Science curriculum.
- The series is a refresh of Mission on the Moon, developed with Wilfrid Laurier University and funded in part by the Canadian Space Agency.
- Artemis II launched April 1, 2026, and is the first crewed mission beyond low Earth orbit since 1972.
