By the time the Artemis II Orion spacecraft launches to the Moon next year, its many components will already have traveled thousands of miles and moved across multiple facilities before coming together at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. Branelle Rodriguez, Artemis II vehicle manager for the Orion Program, has overseen many parts of that journey. Her … Read more
NASA is marking America’s 250th year with a bold new symbol of the nation’s relentless drive to explore. The America 250 emblem is now on the twin solid rocket boosters of the SLS (Space Launch System) rocket for Artemis II — the powerhouse that will launch a crew of four around the Moon next year. … Read more
Listen to this audio excerpt from Diamond St. John, engineer working on the Artemis III heat shield for the Orion Program at Lockheed Martin: Your browser does not support the audio element. For four-generations, Diamond St. John’s family has been supporting human spaceflight at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Now, she’s continuing the family … Read more
As NASA’s Orion spacecraft is carrying crew around the Moon on the Artemis II mission, a team of expert engineers in the Mission Control Center at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston will be meticulously monitoring the spacecraft along its journey. They’ll be operating from a new space in the mission control complex built to … Read more
Before astronauts venture around the Moon on Artemis II, the agency’s first crewed mission to the Moon since Apollo, Mark Cavanaugh is helping make sure the Orion spacecraft is safe and space-ready for the journey ahead. As an Orion integration lead at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, he ensures the spacecraft’s critical systems— in … Read more
Listen to this audio excerpt from Ernesto Garcia, Rayotech Scientific engineering manager: Your browser does not support the audio element. My name is Ernesto Garcia, and I am an engineering manager at Rayotech Scientific in San Diego, in charge of fabricating the windowpanes for the Orion spacecraft. Fabricating Orion’s windowpanes entails a very strict manufacturing … Read more
Keith Barr was born only months before the historic Apollo 11 landing in 1969. While he was too young to witness that giant leap for mankind, the moment sparked a lifelong fascination that set him on a path to design technology that will carry astronauts farther into space than ever before. Today, Barr serves as … Read more
Engineers, technicians, mission planners, and the four astronauts set to fly around the Moon next year on Artemis II, NASA’s first crewed Artemis mission, are rapidly progressing toward launch. At the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, teams are working around the clock to move into integration and final testing of all SLS (Space Launch … Read more
The Artemis II test flight will be NASA’s first mission with crew under Artemis. Astronauts on their first flight aboard NASA’s Orion spacecraft will confirm all of the spacecraft’s systems operate as designed with crew aboard in the actual environment of deep space. Through the Artemis campaign, NASA will send astronauts to explore the Moon … Read more
The four astronauts who will be the first to fly to the Moon under NASA’s Artemis campaign have designed an emblem to represent their mission that references both their distant destination and the home they will return to. The crew unveiled their patch in this April 2, 2025, photo. The crew explained the patch’s symbolism, … Read more