Artemis II Update-24, Day 9: Second Return Correction Burn Complete

Artemis II Update-24, Day 9: Second Return Correction Burn Complete

Thrusters Fire To Steer Orion Home: At 10:53 p.m. EDT, the Orion spacecraft executed a brief nine-second thruster burn, increasing its velocity by 5.3 feet per second and nudging the Artemis II crew further along their return path to Earth. With the maneuver complete, the crew has now crossed the halfway mark on their journey […]

Who is Dan Florez in Artemis Mission Program

Who is Dan Florez in Artemis Mission Program

Dan Florez is one of the NASA test directors for the Exploration Ground Systems Program. The test directors are a group of 20 engineers at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida who plan and execute integrated testing for Artemis missions. Their work includes developing timelines and procedures for launch countdown, propellant loading, emergency egress, […]

Deep Space Network Establishes Contact With Artemis II Spacecraft

Deep Space Network Establishes Contact With Artemis II Spacecraft

The acquisition of the radio frequency signal from the Artemis II crewed mission to the Moon by NASA’s Deep Space Network (DSN) is indicated by the peak in the data signal shown below on the computer screen. Soon after the mission’s launch on April 1, 2026, at 6:35 p.m. EDT, NASA’s Near Space Network led […]

Monitoring over deep space network before artemis II signal acquisition

Monitoring over deep space network before artemis II signal acquisition

Blanca Renteria, operations chief for the Artemis Deep Space Network (DSN), monitored incoming data from the Space Flight Operations Facility at Jet Propulsion Laboratory shortly after Artemis II lifted off on April 1, 2026. The launch took place at 6:35 p.m. EDT from Kennedy Space Center, with mission control teams quickly transitioning to deep space […]

What’s the longstanding tradition at JPL before any launch and other major space mission events

What’s the longstanding tradition at JPL before any launch and other major space mission events

A Ritual Before Liftoff A container of “lucky peanuts” was placed above workstations inside the Space Flight Operations Facility at Jet Propulsion Laboratory ahead of the Artemis II launch on April 1, 2026. The quirky ritual—eating peanuts before major mission events—has long been observed at JPL, seen by teams as a symbol of good fortune […]

JPL’s Mission Control Steps Up For Artemis II Deep Space Operations

JPL’s Mission Control Steps Up For Artemis II Deep Space Operations

Mission Control Comes Alive In California Inside the Space Flight Operations Facility at Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the Artemis II mission took center stage on April 1, 2026, moments before liftoff. The central display featured the mission patch, while adjacent screens mapped real-time activity across the agency’s Deep Space Network (DSN), with active antennas highlighted as […]

Artemis II Update-23, Day 9: Crew Prepares To Come Home

Artemis II Update-23, Day 9: Crew Prepares To Come Home

Final Day In Orbit On their final full day in space, the Artemis II crew began the morning with “Lonesome Drifter” by Charley Crockett as their spacecraft closed in on Earth from a distance of 147,337 miles. Astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch of NASA, along with Jeremy Hansen of the Canadian Space […]

Artemis II astronauts actively shared experiences via live calls, press conferences from Orion [Watch]

Artemis II astronauts actively shared experiences via live calls, press conferences from Orion [Watch]

Artemis II (launched April 1, 2026) successfully completed its historic crewed lunar flyby on April 6, 2026. The four-person crew NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman (Commander), Victor Glover (Pilot), Christina Koch (Mission Specialist), and Jeremy Hansen (CSA Mission Specialist) became the first humans to view the Moon’s far side in over 50 years, traveled farther from […]

Artemis II mission: LUCA and LESA support Artemis safety, success as crew prepares return journey

Artemis II mission: LUCA and LESA support Artemis safety, success as crew prepares return journey

NASA’s Artemis II mission is drawing support from a pair of nearly identical control rooms in Alabama, each playing a distinct role in keeping astronauts safe and operations on track as the crew heads back to Earth, Friday, April 10. At the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, two facilities, […]

Artemis II Update-21, Day 7: First Return Correction Burn Complete

Artemis II Update-21, Day 7: First Return Correction Burn Complete

Artemis II marked a key step in its return to Earth late Tuesday, as the Orion spacecraft fired its engines to fine-tune its path home. At 8:03 p.m. Eastern Time, Orion, named Integrity, performed its first return trajectory correction burn. The 15-second firing adjusted the spacecraft’s velocity by 1.6 feet per second, a small but […]

Artemis II Update-20, Day 7: ISS Crew Connects With Artemis II Astronauts Amid Busy Research Schedule

Artemis II Update-20, Day 7: ISS Crew Connects With Artemis II Astronauts Amid Busy Research Schedule

Astronauts aboard the International Space Station spoke with the Artemis II crew on April 8 following their lunar flyby, marking a rare ship-to-ship exchange between deep space and low Earth orbit. The Artemis II crew is returning to Earth after circling the Moon, while Expedition 74 astronauts continued biomedical research and mission training aboard the […]

Artemis II Update-19, Day 7: Crew Makes Long‑Distance Call, Prepares for Earth Return

Artemis II Update-19, Day 7: Crew Makes Long‑Distance Call, Prepares for Earth Return

NASA’s Artemis II crew began their return journey to Earth on April 7 after completing a historic lunar flyby a day earlier. The crew, traveling aboard the Orion spacecraft about 236,000 miles from Earth, exited the Moon’s gravitational influence and initiated return procedures. The mission includes a call with International Space Station astronauts, scientific debriefs, […]

Bank of Baroda Launches ‘bob SAMVAD’, an AI Platform To Transform Branch Interactions

Bank of Baroda Launches ‘bob SAMVAD’, an AI Platform To Transform Branch Interactions

Bank of Baroda unveiled bob SAMVAD, an AI-powered multilingual conversational platform, in Mumbai on March 28, 2026. The platform, launched by Shri M. Nagaraju of the Department of Financial Services, aims to remove language barriers between customers and bank staff across branches. It will first roll out in 250 branches across five states, with plans […]

Artemis II Update-18, Day 6: Crew Wraps Historic Lunar Flyby

Artemis II Update-18, Day 6: Crew Wraps Historic Lunar Flyby

The four astronauts aboard Artemis II closed out a landmark day in deep space Tuesday, completing a lunar flyby that carried humans farther from Earth than ever before. NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch, along with Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen, spent nearly seven hours observing the Moon as their Orion […]

Artemis II Update-17, Day 6: Lunar Flyby Updates

Artemis II Update-17, Day 6: Lunar Flyby Updates

Live lunar flyby updates for NASA’s Artemis II mission will be published on this page. All times are Eastern. 9:35 p.m. The Artemis II crew has completed the mission’s lunar observation period and is now beginning the return trip home. On Tuesday, April 7, Orion will exit the lunar sphere of influence at approximately 1:25 p.m., at a distance of […]

Artemis II Update-16, Day 6: Crew Nears Historic Lunar Flyby

Artemis II Update-16, Day 6: Crew Nears Historic Lunar Flyby

The four astronauts aboard NASA’s Artemis II mission woke up  to a milestone few humans have experienced. Less than 19,000 miles from the Moon, they began final preparations for a lunar flyby that will mark humanity’s return to deep space after more than five decades. Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Canadian astronaut Jeremy […]