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 […]
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, […]
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 […]
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 moved into another critical phase of its return journey as the crew began Flight Day 8 with a focus on testing systems and preparing for reentry. Aboard the Orion spacecraft, named Integrity, the four astronauts woke to music and a message from the Canadian Space Agency. At the start of the day, they […]
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 […]
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, […]
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 […]
NASA confirmed on April 4 that Artemis II’s first planned trajectory correction burn was canceled after Orion remained on its precise path to the Moon. The crew, traveling toward a scheduled lunar flyby on April 6, continues operations without the need for immediate adjustments. Mission controllers in Houston determined the spacecraft’s trajectory required no correction […]
NASA’s Artemis II crew began Flight Day 3 on April 4 after departing Earth’s orbit earlier in the mission, preparing for their first trajectory correction burn as Orion heads toward the Moon. The four astronauts, currently nearly 100,000 miles from Earth, are also training for lunar observations scheduled during a flyby on April 6. The […]
Astronomers in Japan have identified a new phase in early star formation, where young protostars release magnetic energy and form large gas rings. The study, published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters, used observations from the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array in Chile to examine a stellar nursery in the Taurus Molecular Cloud. Researchers say the findings […]
NASA’s Artemis II crew began their journey to the Moon on April 2 after Orion completed a translunar injection burn lasting nearly six minutes. The maneuver sent astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Jeremy Hansen out of Earth orbit for the first time since 1972. The spacecraft is now on a trajectory toward […]
NASA approved the translunar injection burn for Artemis II on April 2, clearing the Orion spacecraft to leave Earth orbit at 7:49 p.m. EDT. The burn will send astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Jeremy Hansen toward the Moon for the first time since 1972. The decision follows a mission management review confirming […]
NASA confirmed the Artemis II crew completed the perigee raise burn on April 2, firing Orion’s engine for 43 seconds to refine its orbit around Earth. The maneuver placed the spacecraft into a stable high Earth orbit ahead of a planned translunar injection later the same day. Mission managers will review system performance before approving […]
NASA confirmed the Artemis II crew resolved a toilet system fault aboard the Orion spacecraft on April 2 while in Earth orbit. The issue, first detected as a blinking fault light on April 1, was addressed through coordinated troubleshooting with mission control in Houston. The fix comes ahead of a scheduled perigee raise burn, a […]
NASA’s Artemis II crew completed a proximity operations test on April 2, maneuvering the Orion spacecraft near a detached rocket stage in Earth orbit. The demonstration, lasting about 70 minutes, tested manual control systems and gathered data critical for future lunar missions. The crew now prepares for a perigee raise burn, while engineers continue troubleshooting […]
A new study published on April 2026 finds that Saturn has an asymmetrical magnetic field unlike Earth, based on six years of data from the Cassini–Huygens mission. Researchers led by institutions including University College London found that Saturn’s magnetic cusp shifts due to its rapid rotation and plasma from its moon Enceladus. The findings offer […]
India has identified over 8.5 million tonnes of rare earth oxide resources across coastal and inland regions, the government said on April 2, 2026, in Parliament. While the country holds domestic reserves, it remains dependent on imports for rare earth magnets due to processing and industrial gaps. A ₹7,280 crore incentive scheme aims to build […]
NASA confirmed the Artemis II crew completed the apogee raise burn on April 2, increasing Orion’s orbital high point. The mission now transitions toward a proximity operations demonstration that will test manual spacecraft control near another object. Engineers continue to monitor a minor onboard system issue as the crew prepares for the next phase. The […]
Astronauts aboard NASA’s Artemis II mission completed a key proximity operations test on April 2 while orbiting Earth. The maneuver involved controlled movements around a detached rocket stage to evaluate spacecraft handling. With CubeSat deployments ahead and a minor onboard system issue under review, the crew is now preparing for a perigee raise burn to […]