Blog

New Perspective of Home

Seen during Artemis II’s lunar flyby on April 6, 2026, the Moon and Earth align in the same frame, each partially illuminated by the Sun. The Moon’s surface appears in sharp detail in the foreground, while Earth sits much farther away, smaller and softly lit in the background. A faint reflection in the spacecraft window […]

Posted April 10, 2026

Earth Observatory

Earthset From the Lunar Far Side

The crew of NASA’s Artemis II mission captured extraordinary images of our home planet during their journey around the far side of the Moon.

Posted April 10, 2026

Ames Research Center

Indoor Testing Facilities available at the NASA Unmanned Autonomy Research Complex (NUARC)

Windshaper A large WindShaper fan array is available for dynamic low-speed and hovering flight research. The WindShaper is ideal for generating arbitrary wind gradients and wind gusts via a simple Python API. A companion WindProbe is also available for quick surveys of flows. The WindProbe utilizes the lab’s OptiTrack motion capture system to ex

Posted April 10, 2026

Artemis

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Exploration Ground Systems

I Am Artemis

Kennedy Space Center

Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle

Space Launch System (SLS)

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.

Posted April 10, 2026

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Galaxies

The Milky Way

Starstruck

The Artemis II crew captured this photo of our galaxy, the Milky Way, on April 7, 2026. The Milky Way’s elegant spiral structure is dominated by just two arms wrapping off the ends of a central bar of stars. Spanning more than 100,000 light-years, Earth is located along one of the galaxy’s spiral arms, about […]

Posted April 9, 2026

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Photojournal

Watching the Artemis II Mission Unfold at JPL’s Space Flight Operations Facility

Description Staff at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California watch the agency’s Artemis II mission unfold soon after launch on April 1, 2026, at the Space Flight Operations Facility, which operates the Deep Space Network (DSN). The DSN comprises of three complexes in Goldstone, California; Madrid, Spain; and Canberra, Australia.

Posted April 9, 2026

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Photojournal

The Deep Space Network Acquires Artemis II Signal

Description A graphical representation of the Deep Space Network’s radio frequency antennas indicate signal acquisition from NASA’s Artemis II mission to the Moon on April 1, 2026, inside the Space Flight Operations Facility at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California.

Posted April 9, 2026

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Photojournal

Watching Over the Deep Space Network Before Artemis II Signal Acquisition

Description Blanca Renteria, Artemis Deep Space Network (DSN) operations chief, monitors data at the Space Flight Operations Facility at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California shortly after Artemis II launched from the agency’s Kennedy Space Flight Center in Florida on April 1, 2026, at 6:35 p.m. EDT.

Posted April 9, 2026

Artemis

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Photojournal

Watching the Artemis II Launch From JPL’s Space Flight Operations Facility

Description Staff at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California watch the launch of the agency’s Artemis II mission to the Moon on April 1, 2026, at the Space Flight Operations Facility, which operates the Deep Space Network (DSN). Soon after launch, the Artemis II crew communicated with the Near Space Network while they were […]

Posted April 9, 2026

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Photojournal

JPL’s ‘Lucky Peanuts’ Before Artemis II Launch

Description A container of “lucky peanuts” sits above workstations within the Space Flight Operations Facility at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory shortly before the launch of the Artemis II mission to the Moon on April 1, 2026. Eating peanuts before launches and other major mission events is a longstanding tradition at JPL.

Posted April 9, 2026