Artemis II mission will take 4 astronauts on a trip around the moon. The vehicle that will send them there? A massive NASA Space Launch System rocket.

The mission, called Space Reactor-1 Freedom (SR-1 Freedom), is set to launch in December 2028. This mission aims to showcase the use of nuclear fission in space to power electric thrusters. While nuclear technology has been around for decades, it lacked the drive, purpose, destination, and leadership—until now.

NASA's SR-1 Freedom mission, launching in 2028, will use nuclear electric propulsion to reduce Mars travel time, featuring a 20-KW reactor and autonomous helicopters to scout for water and safe landing zones.

NASA engineers manage propulsion systems and space communications to maintain Artemis II’s schedule, ensuring the Orion spacecraft and crew remain connected from launch to splashdown.

Colorado State University researchers are using field campaigns in Colorado, Alabama and Oklahoma to prepare for NASA’s upcoming INCUS satellite mission, a project designed to answer a question scientists have wanted to tackle for years: How do storms form and why do only select storms intensify and produce severe weather?

Like Apollo 8 in 1968, NASA's Artemis 2 mission from Florida will send a crew of astronauts around the moon and back without landing.

NASA awards $180.4 million to Intuitive Machines for lunar science delivery via CLPS, supporting Artemis missions and future human presence on the Moon.

An overhaul of NASA's priorities aims to accelerate moon missions and build a lunar base, but the shift will affect the future of Houston-led programs and commercial space stations.