NASA's Artemis 2 mission reaches lunar space
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On Wednesday, the world watched as NASA’s Artemis II mission lifted off from Launch Pad 39B at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Artemis II is NASA’s first crewed mission to orbit the Moon since Apollo, marking a major milestone in the agency’s return to lunar exploration.
NASA’s Artemis II mission to fly by the moon, comprising of the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket with the Orion crew capsule, lifts off from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, U.S. April 1, 2026. REUTERS
The space agency is targeting Wednesday, April 1, to launch a crew of four astronauts on a potentially record-breaking journey around the moon and back The U.S. space agency’s Skyfall project calls for sending robotic helicopters to Mars on a nuclear-powered spacecraft before the end of Donald Trump’s presidency
Modern space exploration is driven as much by processors as it is by rockets. And it remains the ultimate test of our collective ingenuity.
As NASA prepares for its Artemis II mission, a Central Florida man who helped make the first moon landing possible is reflecting on decades of progress in space exploration.
NASA’s Artemis II mission is on the way to the moon on a flight that will ultimately help inform long-term space exploration, including on the lunar surface itself. AVATAR uses organs-on-a-chip,
Laurie Leshin, professor with ASU’s School of Earth and Space Exploration, spoke about how the Artemis II launch brings NASA one step closer to sending people to the moon again.
NASA now believes there could be hundreds of billions of gallons of water on the moon. According to one theory a collision 4.5 billion years ago between the early Earth and a Mars-sized planet called Theia spun off the Moon and deposited large amounts of water. That is likely have been topped up by water-bearing asteroids and meteors.
Artemis II will test NASA’s crew capabilities in deep space and gather more information that could ultimately help send astronauts to Mars.
Former NASA chief of staff Bale Dalton talks about the work that went into the Artemis mission plan and what to watch for on the journey.
NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman says answering the question of alien life is inherent in all space exploration, and the odds of finding evidence at some point that suggests we’re not alone is “pretty high.