As of May 2026, NASA has not yet completed a new crewed lunar landing since Apollo 17 in 1972. The current pathway back to the lunar surface is NASA’s Artemis program, with several key missions:

• Artemis II (2026) – First crewed lunar flyby of the Artemis era; tests Orion and SLS with astronauts but does not land on the Moon [1].

• Artemis III (target: late 2027) – Initially planned as the first crewed landing of Artemis, but in 2026 NASA officially re‑profiled Artemis III as an Earth‑orbit test mission, not a lunar landing [2][3][4].

• Artemis IV (target: early 2028) – Now designated as the first crewed Moon landing mission of Artemis, contingent on the readiness of commercial Human Landing Systems (HLS) and related systems [5][6][7].

So, today (2026):

• The last time NASA landed humans on the Moon was Apollo 17 in 1972.

• The next planned NASA human landing on the Moon is Artemis IV, no earlier than early 2028.

Key Factors

1. Artemis III no longer includes a lunar landing

Multiple official and secondary sources converge on the same update:

• NASA’s Artemis III mission page (updated March 16, 2026) describes Artemis III as a “demonstration mission in low Earth orbit” to test one or both commercial Human Landing Systems (SpaceX Starship HLS and Blue Origin Blue Moon), focusing on rendezvous and docking and systems tests rather than a lunar surface mission [2].

• An updated Artemis III summary explains that the mission will fly in ~460 km LEO at ~33° inclination, performing docking tests with the landers and evaluating the Axiom Extravehicular Mobility Unit (AxEMU) spacesuits. It explicitly notes “no lunar landing is planned for Artemis III” [3].

• Reporting in early 2026 confirms that NASA leadership publicly announced that Artemis III will not attempt a lunar landing and that the mission’s objective is now orbital testing with commercial landers [4][8].

Conclusion: Artemis III will not be the mission where NASA lands humans on the Moon again.

2. Current official plan: Artemis IV as first Artemis landing

Based on NASA’s published architecture updates and mission pages:

• A March 3, 2026 NASA press release states that Artemis IV is planned as a crewed surface landing in 2028, with an architecture that includes a rendezvous with one or both commercial landers and a crewed lunar surface mission [5].

• The Artemis IV mission page lists “Crewed Surface Landing – Launch: Early 2028” as the mission type and rough date [6].

• Later reporting and analyses confirm NASA is “continuing to target early 2028 for the first Artemis lunar landing”, with Artemis IV positioned as the first crewed surface return [5][6][8][7].

Conclusion: Under the current plan, Artemis IV in early 2028 is the mission where NASA expects to land astronauts on the Moon again.

3. Dependence on commercial Human Landing Systems

The feasibility of that 2028 landing target hinges on two commercial lander efforts:

• SpaceX Starship HLS – A heavily modified version of Starship designed as a lunar lander.

• Blue Origin Blue Moon (crew‑rated variant) – A competing Human Landing System.

Key points:

• Artemis III is now structured largely as a HLS systems, docking, and operations test mission in Earth orbit [2][3][4].

• Both HLS providers must complete critical tests (e.g., propellant transfer, docking, life support validation) and obtain NASA human‑rating certification before they can be used for a crewed landing [3][4].

• Reports in April–May 2026 indicate that both SpaceX and Blue Origin are currently targeting late 2027 readiness for the critical Artemis III‑related tests [4][8].

If landers or tests slip significantly, Artemis IV’s schedule will likely slip as well, since that mission relies on a pre‑positioned and certified lander in lunar orbit [6][7].

4. Hardware and schedule status

From the gathered information:

• Artemis II: Launched April 1, 2026, as a crewed lunar flyby mission (no landing), validating deep‑space systems and setting up for later missions [1].

• Artemis III:

• Launch is targeted for late 2027 [3][4].

• Core stage for the SLS rocket arrived at Kennedy Space Center around late April 2026, and integration is under way [2][3].

• The mission will use a non‑propulsive “spacer” instead of an Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage (ICPS), consistent with its LEO test profile [3].

• Artemis IV:

• NASA continues to target early 2028 for the first Artemis lunar landing [5][6][7].

• Artemis IV architecture has been updated (including selecting Centaur V as an upper stage and moving away from reliance on the Lunar Gateway in the near term), with a direct Orion–lander profile planned [6].

These status updates support the sequence:

• Flyby (Artemis II, 2026) →

• Landers + suits test in Earth orbit (Artemis III, late 2027) →

• First Artemis lunar landing (Artemis IV, early 2028).

5. Counterarguments, uncertainties, and schedule risk

While official targets are clear, there are realistic uncertainties:

• HLS development risk: Analyses note that both Starship HLS and Blue Moon are complex, first‑of‑kind systems, and their development has already experienced delays. Some coverage argues that a late 2027 Artemis III test and an early 2028 landing is ambitious, with a non‑trivial chance of slippage into late 2028 or beyond [4][8][7].

• Budget and political risk: Artemis funding levels, congressional priorities, and potential changes in U.S. political leadership could accelerate, slow, or reshape the program. This risk is harder to quantify but historically relevant.

• Programmatic changes: The NASA architecture update in 2026 already showed that NASA is willing to re‑profile major missions (like Artemis III) to de‑risk the landing sequence [5][3]. Similar future adjustments could either consolidate or further delay the initial landing.

Still, across sources, NASA continues to publicly reaffirm “early 2028” for the first Artemis landing, with no official move to a later year as of May 2026 [5][6][7].

Clear, Actionable Answer

• Has NASA recently landed on the Moon?
  No. The last NASA human lunar landing was Apollo 17 in 1972. Since then, NASA has flown uncrewed lunar missions but no astronauts have landed again as of May 2026.

• Is NASA currently landing on the Moon with Artemis III (2027)?
  No. Artemis III has been officially re‑scoped to be a low‑Earth orbit test mission for commercial lunar landers and spacesuits, with no lunar surface landing planned [2][3][4].

• When is NASA next expected to land astronauts on the Moon?
  Based on NASA’s current plan and 2026 architecture updates, the next NASA human landing on the Moon is planned for Artemis IV in early 2028, contingent on the successful development and certification of commercial Human Landing Systems and associated systems [5][6][7].

So, the concise, actionable conclusion is:

As of May 2026, NASA has not yet returned astronauts to the Moon. The mission currently designated to achieve the next NASA human lunar landing is Artemis IV, targeted for early 2028, assuming commercial landers and supporting systems are ready in time.