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By NASA
Robert Markowitz The four astronauts who will be the first to fly to the Moon under NASA’s Artemis campaign have designed an emblem to represent their mission that references both their distant destination and the home they will return to. The crew unveiled their patch in this April 2, 2025, photo.
The crew explained the patch’s symbolism, and its play on the abbreviation of Artemis II to AII, with the following description: The Artemis II test flight begins when a mighty team launches the first crew of the Artemis generation. This patch designates the mission as “AII,” signifying not only the second major flight of the Artemis campaign, but also an endeavor of discovery that seeks to explore for all and by all. Framed in Apollo 8’s famous Earthrise photo, the scene of the Earth and the Moon represents the dual nature of human spaceflight, both equally compelling: The Moon represents our exploration destination, focused on discovery of the unknown. The Earth represents home, focused on the perspective we gain when we look back at our shared planet and learn what it is to be uniquely human. The orbit around Earth highlights the ongoing exploration missions that have enabled Artemis to set sights on a long-term presence on the Moon and soon, Mars.
Commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, and mission specialist Christina Koch from NASA, and mission specialist Jeremy Hansen from CSA (Canadian Space Agency), will venture around the Moon in 2026 on Artemis II. The 10-day flight will test NASA’s foundational human deep space exploration capabilities, the SLS rocket, Orion spacecraft, for the first time with astronauts. Through Artemis, NASA will send astronauts to explore the Moon for scientific discovery, economic benefits, and build the foundation for the first crewed missions to Mars.
Text credit: Brandi Dean, Courtney Beasley
Image credit: NASA/Robert Markowitz
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By NASA
NASA astronaut Christopher Williams poses for a portrait at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas.Credit: NASA NASA astronaut Chris Williams will embark on his first mission to the International Space Station, serving as a flight engineer and Expedition 74 crew member.
Williams will launch aboard the Roscosmos Soyuz MS-28 spacecraft in November, accompanied by Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Kud-Sverchkov and Sergei Mikaev. After launching from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, the trio will spend approximately eight months aboard the orbiting laboratory.
During his expedition, Williams will conduct scientific investigations and technology demonstrations that help prepare humans for future space missions and benefit humanity.
Selected as a NASA astronaut in 2021, Williams graduated with the 23rd astronaut class in 2024. He began training for his first space station flight assignment immediately after completing initial astronaut candidate training.
Williams was born in New York City, and considers Potomac, Maryland, his hometown. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Physics from Stanford University in California and a doctorate in Physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, where his research focused on astrophysics. Williams completed Medical Physics Residency training at Harvard Medical School in Boston. He was working as a clinical physicist and researcher at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston when he was selected as an astronaut.
For more than two decades, people have lived and worked continuously aboard the International Space Station, advancing scientific knowledge and making research breakthroughs not possible on Earth. The station is a critical testbed for NASA to understand and overcome the challenges of long-duration spaceflight and to expand commercial opportunities in low Earth orbit. As commercial companies focus on providing human space transportation services and destinations as part of a robust low Earth orbit economy, NASA is able to more fully focus its resources on deep space missions to the Moon and Mars.
Learn more about International Space Station research and operations at:
https://www.nasa.gov/station
-end-
Josh Finch / Claire O’Shea
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1100
joshua.a.finch@nasa.gov / claire.a.o’shea@nasa.gov
Chelsey Ballarte
Johnson Space Center, Houston
281-483-5111
chelsey.n.ballarte@nasa.gov
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Last Updated Apr 03, 2025 LocationNASA Headquarters Related Terms
Humans in Space International Space Station (ISS) ISS Research Johnson Space Center View the full article
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By NASA
5 Min Read NASA Langley’s Legacy of Landing
The first image of the Moon taken by the cameras on the Lunar Orbiter in 1966. Credits: NASA Landing safely on the surface of another planetary body, like the Moon or Mars, is one of the most important milestones of any given space mission. From the very beginning, NASA’s Langley Research Center has been at the heart of the entry, descent and landing (EDL) research that enables our exploration. Today, NASA Langley’s legacy of landing continues at the forefront of present day lunar missions and as NASA prepares for future travel to more distant worlds.
Project Mercury: 1958
Project Mercury was the United States’ first human-in-space program, led by NASA’s Space Task Group located at NASA Langley. There were five major programs of study and experimentation.
An airdrop study that helped us understand the characteristics of the Mercury capsule as it returned to Earth. A group of study focused on the escape systems, ultimately becoming known as the launch abort system. Exhaustive wind-tunnel studies of the blunt-nosed capsule design and its aerodynamic stability at various altitudes and speeds and angles of reentry, all with a focus on making the capsule safe and stable. A study on the problem of landing impact, resulting in the development of absorption systems that minimized the shock of impact to the capsule’s pilot. Studies into the use of drogue parachutes and their characteristics at high altitudes and speeds, ensuring that they would be able to stabilize and slow the capsule’s descent for a safe landing. All of this research went on to inform the subsequent Gemini and Apollo programs. All of this research went on to inform the subsequent Gemini and Apollo programs.
Apollo Program: 1962
In 1961, President John F. Kennedy committed to putting Americans on the surface of the Moon and shortly after that historic declaration, NASA’s Apollo program was born. In the years that followed, the original team of NASA astronauts completed their basic training at NASA Langley’s Lunar Landing Research Facility (LLRF). When Apollo 11 successfully landed the first humans on the Moon in 1969, NASA Langley had played a pivotal role in the monumental success.
Lunar Orbiter: 1966
The Lunar Orbiter missions launched with the purpose of mapping the lunar surface and identifying potential landing sites ahead of the Apollo landings. From 1966 to 1967, the five successful Lunar Orbiter missions, led and managed by Langley Research Center, resulted in 99% of the moon photographed and a suitable site selected for the upcoming human landings.
Viking: 1976
After the success of Apollo, NASA set its sights further across the solar system to Mars. Two Viking missions aimed to successfully place landers on the Red Planet and capture high resolution images of the Martian surfaces, assisting in the search for life. Langley Research Center was chosen to lead this inaugural Mars mission and went on to play key roles in the missions to Mars that followed.
HIAD: 2009 – Present
Successful landings on Mars led to more ambitious dreams of landing larger payloads, including those that could support future human exploration. In order to land those payloads safely, a new style of heat shield would be needed. Hypersonic Inflatable Aerodynamic Decelerator (HIAD) technology was positioned as an answer to the payload problem, enabling missions to use inflatable heat shields to slow down and protect a payload as it enters a planet’s atmosphere at hypersonic speeds.
IRVE – 2009-2012
Two successful Inflatable Reentry Vehicle Experiments (IRVE) proved the capability of inflatable heat shield technology and opened the door for larger iterations.
LOFTID – 2022
The Low Earth Orbit Flight Test of an Inflatable Decelerator (LOFTID) followed in the footsteps of its predecessor IRVE with a larger aeroshell that could be deployed to a scale much larger than the shroud. The 2022 successful test of this technology further proved the capability of HIAD technology.
MEDLI 1 and 2: 2012 & 2020
As a part of the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) mission, NASA Langley’s Mars Entry, Descent and Landing Instrument (MEDLI) was designed to gather data from the MSL entry vehicle’s heatshield during its entry and descent to the surface of Mars. MEDLI2 expanded on that groundbreaking data during the Mars 2020 mission which safely landed the Perseverance rover after successfully entering the planet’s arid atmosphere, and enabling improvements on the design for future entry systems.
Curiosity Rover
Curiosity was the largest and most capable rover ever sent to Mars when it launched in 2011. Leading up the mission, Langley engineers performed millions of simulations of the entry, descent and landing phase — or the so-called “Seven Minutes of Terror” — that determines success or failure. Curiosity continues to look for signs that Mars once was – or still is – a habitable place for life as we know it.
CLPS: 2023 – Present
The Commercial Lunar Payload Services initiative takes the Artemis mission further by working with commercial partners to advance the technology needed to return humans to the Moon and enable humanity to explore Mars.
NDL
Navigation Doppler Lidar (NDL) technology, developed at Langley Research Center, uses lasers to assist spacecraft in identifying safe locations to land. In 2024, NDL flew on the Intuitive Machines’ uncrewed Nova-C lander, with its laser instruments designed to measure velocity and altitude to within a few feet. While NASA planetary landers have traditionally relied on radar and used radio waves, NDL technology has proven more accurate and less heavy, both major benefits for cost and space savings as we continue to pursue planetary missions.
SCALPSS
Like Lunar Orbiter and the Viking missions before it, Stereo Cameras for Lunar Plume Surface Studies (SCALPSS) set out to better understand the surface of another celestial body. These cameras affixed to the bottom of a lunar lander focus on the interaction between the lander’s rocket plumes and the lunar surface. The SCALPSS 1.1 instrument captured first-of-its-kind imagery as the engine plumes of Firefly’s Blue Ghost lander reached the Moon’s surface. These images will serve as key pieces of data as trips to the Moon increase in the coming years.
About the Author
Angelique Herring
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Last Updated Apr 03, 2025 EditorAngelique HerringContactJoseph Scott Atkinsonjoseph.s.atkinson@nasa.govLocationNASA Langley Research Center Related Terms
General Langley Research Center Explore More
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By NASA
3 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)
The International Space Station is pictured from the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft by a Crew-8 member shortly after undocking from the Harmony module’s space-facing port as the orbital outpost was soaring 272 miles above the cloudy Patagonia region of South America.NASA NASA is seeking proposals for two new private astronaut missions to the International Space Station, targeted for 2026 and 2027, as the agency continues its commitment to expanding access to space. These private missions enable American commercial companies to further develop capabilities and support a continuous human presence in low Earth orbit.
“We are in an incredible time for human spaceflight, with more opportunities to access space and grow a thriving commercial economy in low Earth orbit,” said Dana Weigel, program manager for the International Space Station at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. “NASA remains committed to supporting this expansion by leveraging our decades of expertise to help industry gain the experience needed to train and manage crews, conduct research, and develop future destinations. Private astronaut missions are a key part of this effort, providing companies with hands-on opportunities to refine their capabilities and build partnerships that will shape the future of low Earth orbit.”
The new flight opportunities will be the fifth and sixth private astronaut missions to the orbiting laboratory coordinated by NASA. The first three missions were accomplished by Axiom Space in April 2022, May 2023, and January 2024, with a fourth scheduled for no earlier than May 2025.
Each of the new missions may be docked to the space station for up to 14 days. Specific dates depend on spacecraft traffic at the space station and in-orbit activity planning and constraints. Private astronaut missions must be brokered by a U.S. entity and use U.S. transportation spacecraft that meet NASA’s International Space Station visiting vehicle requirements, policies, and procedures. For additional details, refer to Focus Area 4A of NASA Research Announcement (NRA) NNJ13ZBG001N.
Proposals are due by 5 p.m. EDT on Friday, May 30, 2025.
For solicitation information, visit:
https://www.nasa.gov/johnson/jsc-procurement/pam
For more than two decades, people have lived and worked continuously aboard the International Space Station, advancing scientific knowledge and demonstrating new technologies, making research breakthroughs not possible on Earth. The station is a critical testbed for NASA to understand and overcome the challenges of long-duration spaceflight and to expand commercial opportunities in low Earth orbit. As commercial companies focus on providing human space transportation services and destinations as part of a robust low Earth orbit economy, NASA’s Artemis campaign is underway at the Moon, where the agency is preparing for future human exploration of Mars.
Learn more about the International Space Station at:
https://www.nasa.gov/station
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