Artemis II launched to the Moon, but it is not the first American Rocket to have circumnavigated the Moon – Apollo 8 in 1968 – with Frank Borman, Jim Lovell, and William Anders was the first. During their historic December 1968 mission, they entered lunar orbit on Christmas Eve and successfully circumnavigated the Moon 10 times over 20 hours on Christmas Day before returning to Earth.

Based on 2026 NASA mission planning, the core difference between Apollo 8 and Artemis II (now categorized with Artemis II's mission profile for this comparison) is that Apollo 8 was a high-risk exploration test flight to enter lunar orbit, while the modern crewed moon-circling mission focuses on testing deep space life-support systems on a free-return trajectory without stopping in lunar orbit.

Artemis II aims for a sustainable long-term human presence, whereas Apollo 8 was a geopolitical race against the Soviet Union.

Apollo 8 article in Popular Mechanics Dec 21, 2018

By coincidence, it is also in 2026 that the satellite Voyager 1 is now 1 light-day away from Earth.

Voyager 1 Launched on 5 September 1977




Voyager 1 is now 1 Light-Day away from Earth




Voyager 1 Carl Sagan played a pivotal role in the Voyager 1 mission




Voyager 1 World's Farthest Spacecraft Nears 1 Light-Day from Earth




Plaque on Voyager 1




A Picture of The Golden Record on Voyager 1