NASA is offering a unique Valentine’s Day gift: the chance to send your name on a journey around the Moon aboard the Artemis II mission. The agency is accepting submissions through February 21, 2026, providing participants with a digital “boarding pass” as proof of inclusion on the historic flight.
The Artemis II mission, scheduled to launch no earlier than March 2026, will carry four astronauts – Commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, mission specialist Christina Koch, and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen – on a 10-day flight designed to test critical systems for future lunar landings and eventual crewed missions to Mars. The spacecraft will swing thousands of miles beyond the far side of the Moon, reaching a maximum distance of 4,600 miles beyond the lunar surface and 230,000 miles from Earth, before returning to Earth for a splashdown in the Pacific Ocean.
As of today, February 14, 2026, nearly 5 million boarding passes have already been claimed for the mission, with 4,932,570 claimed so far, according to NASA. Submitted names will be stored on an SD card that will fly inside the Orion spacecraft.
This mission represents the first crewed flight under NASA’s Artemis campaign, which aims to return humans to the lunar surface and establish a sustained presence there. The Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion spacecraft will be thoroughly evaluated during the Artemis II flight, assessing life support systems, navigation, deep-space communication capabilities, radiation monitoring, and the effects of prolonged exposure to the harsh environment of space.
The initiative coincides with Valentine’s Day, offering a cosmic way to celebrate with loved ones. Participants can access their digital boarding passes using a PIN they create during the submission process. NASA cautions that lost PINs cannot be recovered.
The current Moon phase is Waning Crescent, with 11% of the Moon illuminated tonight. While observing the Moon tonight will require binoculars or a telescope to view features like the Grimaldi Basin, the next Full Moon is scheduled for March 3.
