Why won't NASA's Artemis 2 astronauts land on the moon when they get there?

An orange rocket on a launch pad at sunset.

Artemis 2 is an ambitious mission, sending four astronauts on a 10-day loop around the moon and back to Earth. But it's not too ambitious: The quartet won't touch down on the lunar surface.

Artemis 2, which could launch as soon as April 1, consists of NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman (commander), Victor Glover (pilot) and Christina Koch (mission specialist), and Canadian Space Agency astronaut and mission specialist Jeremy Hansen.