Artemis II is a planned lunar spaceflight mission under the Artemis program, led by NASA. It is intended to be the second flight of the Space Launch System (SLS), and is both the first crewed mission of the Orion spacecraft and the first crewed mission to the vicinity of the Moon since Apollo 17 in 1972.

The General Assembly declared International Moon Day, a United Nations-designated international day to be observed annually on 20 July, in its resolution 76/76 on “International cooperation in the peaceful uses of outer space” in 2021.

International Observe the Moon Night is an annual public outreach event sponsored by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter mission, the Solar System Exploration Division at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, and other NASA and astronomical organizations that encourages observation, appreciation, and understanding of the Moon and its connection to planetary science and exploration.