ALT Two photos side-by-side showing the Artemis I Orion heat shield on the left and the Artemis II Orion heat shield on the right. Both heat shields are seen on stands and rotated for inspection. Credit: NASA
ALT Interior view of NASA’s Vehicle Assembly Building showing multiple levels of steel platforms, walkways, and support structures surrounding the Space Launch System core stage and solid rocket booster segments. Bright work lights illuminate the large white booster sections and dense network of pipes, beams, and scaffolding as teams prepare hardware for upcoming Artemis III operations. Credit: NASA/Cory S. Huston
ALT Technicians extend and inspect one of the solar array wing panels that will attach the Orion service module for Artemis III inside the Neil A. Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building high bay at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2026. Credit: NASA/Amanda Stevenson
ALT Four small white sample cups on a tray, each holding a different portion of prepared food. The foods vary in color and texture, including a green‑flecked mixture, a golden paste, a white grain-like sample, and a chunkier mixture with darker pieces. The Artemis III crew tasted various food items on Monday, Aug. 10, 2026, at NASA’s Space Food Systems Laboratory, to determine what they’ll eat on their mission in low Earth orbit. Credit: NASA/Helen Arase Vargas
ALT The Artemis III astronauts pose for a group photo on the front porch before conducting hoist training with U.S. Navy Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron (HSC) 23 and Explosive Ordnance Disposal Group (EODGRU) 1 in San Diego, California, Thursday, Sept. 24, 2026. Credit: US Navy/2nd Class August Clawson
ALT Voyager Technologies’ Griffin-1 lunar lander is suspended in front of the open 25-Foot Space Simulator at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory as technicians in clean-room garments guide and position the spacecraft. The large thermal vacuum chamber rises behind the lander, with an American flag hanging beside the entrance. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
ALT Voyager Technologies’ Griffin-1 lunar lander is shown during spin testing on a special table at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. The spacecraft appears motion-blurred as it rotates, while several technicians in clean-room garments work nearby. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
ALT NASA flight directors Zeb Scoville (left) and Pooja Jesrani (right) sit at the Flight Director console in Mission Control Houston. Both wear headsets, as Pooja works on her laptop and Zeb looks at a desk monitor. Photo: NASA/James Blair
ALT Credit: NASA
ALT Illustration of the MMX spacecraft, with its landing legs and solar panels, in space above Mars, with the small moon Phobos nearby. Credit: JAXA
ALT Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev, left, NASA astronauts Jack Hathaway and Jessica Meir, and ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Sophie Adenot are seen inside the SpaceX Dragon Freedom spacecraft onboard the SpaceX recovery ship SHANNON shortly after having landed in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Los Angeles, Calif., Thursday, Oct. 8, 2026. Meir, Hathaway, Adenot, and Fedyaev are returning after seven-months in space as part of Expedition 74 aboard the International Space Station. Photo Credit: (NASA/Keegan Barber)
