This year, four NASA astronauts are flying around the Moon and back—and Curious Universe is bringing you along for the ride. The mission is called Artemis II. It’s a key test flight that will set the stage for future missions…

Listen to this audio excerpt from Jacki Mahaffey, Artemis II chief training officer: When the Artemis II crew travels around the Moon aboard the Orion spacecraft, they will have spent countless hours training for their lunar mission, and Jacki Mahaffey…

Listen to this audio excerpt from Jen Madsen and Trey Perryman, leads of the Orion Mission Evaluation Room for the Artemis II mission: During NASA’s Artemis II mission, Jen Madsen and Trey Perryman will be leading a team monitoring the…

Santa Claus (NASA engineer Guy Naylor) poses with NASA’s Artemis II Orion spacecraft and SLS (Space Launch System) rocket in the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Dec. 11, 2025. The Orion spacecraft was stacked…

For most, getting into a car is a task that can be done without assistance. Yet for those whose destination is the Moon, the process of getting inside and secured – in this case, in NASA’s Orion spacecraft – requires…

From left to right, CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut Jeremy Hansen and NASA astronauts Christina Koch, Victor Glover, and Reid Wiseman stand outside before boarding their Orion spacecraft inside the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida…

NASA’s launch and mission teams, along with the Artemis II crew, completed a key test Dec. 20, a countdown demonstration test, ahead of the Artemis II flight around the Moon early next year. The astronauts, supported by launch and flight…

Listen to this audio excerpt from Grace Lauderdale, exploration project manager for the Training Systems Office at NASA Johnson: In preparation for their mission around the Moon inside NASA’s Orion spacecraft, the Artemis II crew will spend countless hours training inside the…

Teams at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida spent 2025 preparing the launch vehicle and its powerhouse SLS (Space Launch System) rocket to launch four astronauts around the Moon for Artemis II in early 2026. The center also celebrated milestones…

The four astronauts set to fly around the Moon during NASA’s Artemis II test flight depart the Neil A. Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, during a dress rehearsal for launch day on Dec. 20,…

NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston closed 2025 with major progress across human spaceflight, research, and exploration. From Artemis II mission preparations to science aboard the International Space Station, teams at Johnson helped prepare for future missions to the Moon…

With a second Trump Administration at the helm in 2025, NASA marked significant progress toward the Artemis II test flight early next year, which is the first crewed mission around the Moon in more than 50 years, as well as…

The same historic facilities that some 50 years ago prepared NASA’s twin Voyager probes for their ongoing interstellar odyssey are helping to ready a towering commercial spacecraft for a journey to the Moon. Launches involve brutal shaking and astonishingly loud…

Descubre cómo las investigaciones científicas y demostraciones de tecnología a bordo de nuestro laboratorio en órbita nos benefician a todos aquí en la Tierra, al tiempo que nos ayudan a prepararnos mejor para la exploración de la Luna y Marte…

At about 4.3 billion years old, over 20,000 feet high, and with a high likelihood of containing life-sustaining materials, Mons Mouton is rife for science.

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…

NASA has selected two science instruments designed for astronauts to deploy on the surface of the Moon during the Artemis IV mission to the lunar south polar region. The instruments will improve our knowledge of the lunar environment to support NASA’s…

NASA has selected the University of Alabama at Birmingham to provide the necessary systems required to return temperature sensitive science payloads to Earth from the Moon. The Lunar Freezer System contract is an indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity award with cost-plus-fixed-fee delivery orders. The…

Steve Creech is the acting program manager of NASA’s Human Landing System Program at the agency’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. In this role, Creech leads the development of the integrated lunar landing systems, provided by U.S. industry,…

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…

October marked the fifth anniversary of NASA and the original founders signing the Artemis Accords, as well as the recognition of Hungary, Malaysia and the Philippines joining the expanding coalition dedicated to the peaceful exploration of space. The number of…

As 2026 nears, NASA continues moving forward to launching and flying Artemis II, the first crewed mission under the Artemis campaign, no later than April next year. NASA’s Orion spacecraft, complete with its launch abort system escape tower, is now…

Listen to this audio excerpt from Ethan Jacobs, a helicopter pilot and member of the Colorado Army National Guard developing a foundational flight training course for Artemis astronauts: High above the Rocky Mountains, Ethan Jacobs is helping NASA preparing to…

ROSES-2025 Amendment 21 resets the step-2 proposal due date for F.15 Artemis III Participating Scientist Program (A3PSP), which was previously set to TBD because of the lapse in government funding. The new Step-2 proposal due date is November 25, 2025.…

Brian Alpert’s path was always destined for the aerospace industry, but his journey turned toward NASA’s Johnson Space Center during his sophomore year in college. That was when Tricia Mack, who works in NASA’s Transportation Integration Office within the International…