Listen to this audio excerpt from Ryan Schulte, Orion flywheel project manager: As the four Artemis II astronauts traveled on a 694,481-mile journey around the Moon and back, the Orion spacecraft provided them with all the essentials for deep space life, including daily exercise. The crew used an exercise device called the flywheel throughout their mission to maintain their physical and mental health, and Ryan Schulte, Orion […]
Category: Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle
Artemis II Mission Milestones: An Image and Video Recap
On April 1, 2026, Artemis II launched on a nearly 10-day voyage around the Moon, marking the first crewed flight of NASA’s Orion spacecraft. NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch, along with CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut Jeremy Hansen, splashed down on April 10 in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of San Diego. At their farthest […]
NASA on Track for Future Missions with Initial Artemis II Assessments
Following NASA’s Artemis II mission successfully splashing down on Earth, engineers started diving into detailed analysis of data to assess how key systems and subsystems on the Orion spacecraft, SLS (Space Launch System) rocket, and systems at the launch pad at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida performed. The Artemis II test flight successfully […]
I Am Artemis: Rebekah Tolatovicz
Listen to this audio excerpt from Rebekah Tolatovicz, a mechanical technician lead supporting the Orion spacecraft’s main contractor Lockheed Martin: At NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, there is a fleet of Orion spacecraft in work, and Rebekah Tolatovicz’s hands have helped build each one. Tolatovicz works to build, integrate, and test the spacecraft used […]
NASA Welcomes Record-Setting Artemis II Moonfarers Back to Earth
The first astronauts to travel to the Moon in more than half a century are back on Earth after a record-setting mission aboard NASA’s Artemis II test flight. NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch, and CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut Jeremy Hansen splashed down at 5:07 p.m. PDT Friday off the coast […]
I Am Artemis: Dan Florez
Listen to this audio excerpt from Dan Florez, test director for NASA’s Exploration Ground Systems Program: At 1:47 a.m. EST November 16, 2022, as the Artemis I engines ignited, NASA astronaut Reid Wiseman and Dan Florez, NASA test director for the agency’s Exploration Ground Systems, watched from Kennedy’s Launch Control Center roof as the midnight […]
Solar Eclipse of the Heart
The Moon, seen here backlit by the Sun during a solar eclipse on April 6, 2026, is photographed by one of the cameras on the Orion spacecraft’s solar array wings. During lunar flyby, the Artemis II astronauts observed a solar eclipse that only they could see due to their unique position. See more photos from […]
NASA’s Artemis II Mission Leaves Earth Orbit for Flight around Moon
For the first time in more than 50 years, astronauts on a NASA mission are bound to fly around the Moon after successfully completing a key burn of Orion’s main engine. With the approximately six-minute firing of the spacecraft’s service module engine on Thursday, known as the translunar injection burn, Orion and its crew of […]
Liftoff! NASA Launches Astronauts on Historic Artemis Moon Mission
Spurred by American ingenuity, astronauts on NASA’s Artemis II mission are in flight, preparing for the first crewed lunar flyby in more than 50 years. NASA’s SLS (Space Launch System) rocket lifted off from Launch Pad 39B at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 6:35 p.m. EDT Wednesday, sending four astronauts aboard the […]
Track NASA’s Artemis II Mission in Real Time
As NASA invites the public to follow the Artemis II mission as a crew of four astronauts venture around the Moon inside the agency’s Orion spacecraft, people around the world can pinpoint Orion during its journey using the Artemis Real-time Orbit Website (AROW). During the approximately 10-day mission, NASA will test how the spacecraft’s systems […]