The Artemis II mission launches this week as a first step toward returning to the moon and reaching Mars. Materials scientist Debbie Senesky explains the material tech that makes these missions possible.

The Orion spacecraft will take four crew members and one commode around the moon and back as part of the Artemis II mission. In April 2025, National Geographic worked with NASA and filmed the astronauts at an Orion space capsule model in Houston.

The virtual event featured Hansen speaking live from aboard NASA's Orion spacecraft, approximately three days into the 10-day lunar flyby mission.

Helping the astronauts of Artemis II speak to the folks on Earth is the Deep Space Network, operated out of Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena.

Rocket Lab, Intuitive Machines and AST SpaceMobile rose premarket on Wednesday ahead of NASA’s first crewed deep-space mission since 1972. ・Artemis II is targeting liftoff no earlier than 6.24 p.m. ET from Kennedy Space Center.

(Photo: A view of Earth taken by NASA astronaut and Artemis II Commander Reid Wiseman from one of the Orion spacecraft's four windows; Credit: NASA/Reuters)

After a historic lunar flyby, Artemis II astronauts are heading home, sharing breathtaking moon photos.