The first crewed test flight under NASA’s Artemis program is underway. Four Artemis II astronauts are flying aboard NASA’s Orion spacecraft around the Moon and back, as they test how the spacecraft’s systems operate in a deep space environment. NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch, and CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut Jeremy […]
Category: Artemis 2
Illuminated in Orion
NASA astronaut Christina Koch reads on a tablet in the dimly lit Orion crew capsule in this April 3, 2026, photo. To the right of the image’s center, CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut Jeremy Hansen is seen in profile peering out of one of Orion’s windows. Lights are turned off to avoid glare on the […]
Hello, World
NASA astronaut and Artemis II Commander Reid Wiseman took this picture of Earth from the Orion spacecraft’s window after completing the translunar injection burn. There are two auroras (top right and bottom left) and zodiacal light (bottom right) is visible as the Earth eclipses the Sun. This and another photo of Earth are the first […]
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 […]
Artemis II Astronauts Launch to Moon
NASA’s Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft lift off in this April 1, 2026, image. NASA’s Artemis II mission will take NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch, and CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut Jeremy on an approximately 10-day journey around the Moon and back aboard their Orion spacecraft. See more launch […]
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 […]
Godspeed, Artemis II!
NASA astronaut Jessica Meir took this photo of an Artemis program patch floating in the International Space Station’s cupola. She posted it on X on March 30, 2026, with the following caption: “Our work on the @Space_Station has provided the foundation to explore further, preparing us to return humans to the Moon this week. Stay […]
Sendoff for Artemis II Crew
From left to right, NASA astronauts Andre Douglas, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch, CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronauts Jenni Gibbons, NASA astronaut Reid Wiseman, and CSA astronaut Jeremy Hansen pose for a photo before the Artemis II crew proceed to a media event on March 27, 2026. Douglas and Gibbons are the backup crew members […]
I Am Artemis: Erik Richards
Listen to this audio excerpt from Erik Richards, Near Space Network Mission Manager: For Erik Richards, supporting NASA’s first crewed Artemis mission to the Moon and back is the culmination of a career spent helping spacecraft communicate with Earth. Like many kids who grew up at the height of the Space Shuttle Program, Richards dreamed of spaceflight — a dream that eventually took him from the remote McMurdo Station in Antarctica to […]
I Am Artemis: Michael Guzman
Listen to this audio excerpt from Michael Guzman, Artemis II main propulsion systems engineer: A clue to what Mike Guzman, main propulsion systems engineer at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, loves most can be found in the signature of his work email: a complex string of equations for rocket thrust, specific impulse, and the […]