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By NASA
Acting NASA Administrator Janet Petro and Anke Kaysser-Pyzalla, chair, Executive Board, DLR (German Aerospace Center, or Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt), signed an agreement June 16, 2025, to continue a partnership on space medicine research. With this agreement, DLR will provide new radiation sensors aboard the Orion spacecraft during NASA’s Artemis II mission. Scheduled for launch no later than April 2026, Artemis II will mark the first test flight with crew under Artemis.Credit: DLR While attending the Paris Air Show June 16, NASA acting Administrator Janet Petro signed an agreement with DLR (German Aerospace Center, or Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt) to continue a partnership in space medicine research. This renewed collaboration builds on previous radiation mitigation efforts for human spaceflight. As NASA advances the Trump-Vance Administration’s goals for exploration on the Moon and Mars, minimizing exposure to space radiation is one of the key areas the agency is working to protect crew on long duration missions.
With this agreement, DLR will leverage its human spaceflight expertise and provide new radiation sensors aboard the Orion spacecraft during NASA’s Artemis II mission, building on previous work in this area during the Artemis I mission. Scheduled for launch no later than April 2026, Artemis II will mark the first test flight with crew under Artemis.
“In keeping with the historic agreements NASA has made with international partners as a part of Artemis, I am pleased to sign a new NASA-DLR joint agreement today, to enable radiation research aboard Artemis II,” said acting NASA Administrator Janet Petro. “The German Aerospace Center has been a valuable partner in Artemis, having previously worked with NASA to test technology critical to our understanding of radiation on humans aboard an Orion spacecraft on Artemis I and providing a CubeSat as part of Artemis II. Following a productive meeting between President Trump and German Chancellor Merz earlier this month, I am excited to build upon our great partnership with Germany.”
During the Artemis II mission’s planned 10-day journey around the Moon and back, four of DLR’s newly developed M-42 extended (M-42 EXT) radiation detectors will be on board, contributing vital data to support astronaut safety. This next-generation device represents a new phase of research as NASA and DLR continue working together to safeguard human health in space.
Under the leadership of President Trump, America’s Artemis campaign has reignited NASA’s ambition, sparking international cooperation and cutting-edge innovation. The continued partnership with DLR and the deployment of their advanced M-42 EXT radiation detectors aboard Artemis II exemplifies how the Trump-Vance Administration is leading a Golden Era of Exploration and Innovation that puts American astronauts on the path to the Moon, Mars, and beyond.
“To develop effective protective measures against the impact of space radiation on the human body, comprehensive and coherent radiation measurements in open space are essential,” says Anke Pagels-Kerp, divisional board member for space at DLR. “At the end of 2022, Artemis I carried 12,000 passive and 16 active detectors inside the Helga and Zohar mannequins, which flew aboard the Orion spacecraft as part of DLR’s MARE project. These provided a valuable dataset – the first continuous radiation measurements ever recorded beyond low Earth orbit. We are now excited to take the next step together with NASA and send our upgraded radiation detectors around the Moon on the Artemis II mission.”
Through the Artemis campaign, the agency will establish a long-term presence on the Moon for scientific exploration with our commercial and international partners, learn how to live and work away from home, and prepare for future human exploration of Mars.
For more information about Artemis, visit:
https://www.nasa.gov/artemis
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Bethany Stevens / Rachel Kraft
Headquarters
202-358-1600
bethany.c.stevens@nasa.gv / rachel.h.kraft@nasa.gov
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Last Updated Jun 17, 2025 LocationNASA Headquarters Related Terms
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By NASA
by Dary Felix Garcia
NASA is preparing to make history by sending humans to the Moon’s South Pole. There, astronauts will conduct moonwalks for exploration, science experiments, and prepare humanity for the journey to Mars. Missions of this scale require extensive planning, especially when accounting for emergency scenarios such as a crew member becoming incapacitated.
To address this critical risk, the South Pole Safety Challenge invited the public to develop a compact, effective device capable of safely rescuing astronauts during emergency situations on the Moon’s surface. Given the harsh and unpredictable conditions of the lunar South Pole, the rescue system must be lightweight, easy to use, and able to transport an incapacitated crew member weighing approximately 755 lbs. (343 kg), representing the crew member and their suit, without the help of the lunar rover. It must also be capable of covering up to 1.24 miles (2 kilometers) across slopes as steep as 20 degrees.
“The initiative saved the government an estimated $1,000,000 and more than three years of work had the solutions been produced using in-house existing resources,” said Ryon Stewart, acting Program Manager of NASA’s Center of Excellence for Collaborative Innovation. “The effort demonstrated how crowdsourcing provides NASA with a wide diversity of innovative ideas and skills.”
The global challenge received 385 unique ideas from 61 countries. Five standout solutions received a share of the $45,000 prize purse. Each of the selected solutions demonstrated creativity, practicality, and direct relevance to NASA’s needs for future Moon missions.
The global challenge received 385 unique ideas from 61 countries. Five standout solutions received a share of the $45,000 prize purse. Each of the selected solutions demonstrated creativity, practicality, and direct relevance to NASA’s needs for future Moon missions.
First Place: VERTEX by Hugo Shelley – A self-deploying four-wheeled motorized stretcher that converts from a compact cylinder into a frame that securely encases an immobilized crew member for transport up to 6.2 miles (10 kilometers). Second Place: MoonWheel by Chamara Mahesh – A foldable manual trolley designed for challenging terrain and rapid deployment by an individual astronaut. Third Place: Portable Foldable Compact Emergency Stretcher by Sbarellati team – A foldable stretcher compatible with NASA’s Exploration Extravehicular Activity spacesuit. Third Place: Advanced Surface Transport for Rescue (ASTRA) by Pierre-Alexandre Aubé – A collapsible three-wheeled device with a 1.2 mile (2 kilometer) range. Third Place: Getting Rick to Roll! by InventorParents – A rapidly deployable, tool-free design suited for functionality in low gravity settings. NASA is identifying how to integrate some features of the winning ideas into current and future mission designs. Most intriguing are the collapsible concepts of many of the designs that would save crucial mass and volume. Additionally, the submissions offered innovative wheel designs to enhance current concepts. NASA expects to incorporate some features into planning for surface operations of the Moon.
HeroX hosted the challenge on behalf of NASA’s Extravehicular Activity and Human Surface Mobility Program. The NASA Tournament Lab, part of the Prizes, Challenges, and Crowdsourcing program in the Space Technology Mission Directorate, managed the challenge. The program supports global public competitions and crowdsourcing as tools to advance NASA research and development and other mission needs.
Find more opportunities at https://www.nasa.gov/get-involved/
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By NASA
3 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)
By Beth Ridgeway
NASA’s Student Launch competition celebrated its 25th anniversary on May 4, just north of NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, bringing together more than 980 middle school, high school, college, and university students from across the U.S. to showcase and launch their high-powered rocketry designs.
The event marked the conclusion of the nine-month challenge where teams designed, built, and launched more than 50 rockets carrying scientific payloads—trying to achieve altitudes between 4,000 and 6,000 feet before executing a successful landing and payload mission.
“This is really about mirroring the NASA engineering design process,” Kevin McGhaw, director of NASA’s Office of STEM Engagement Southeast Region, said. “It gives students hands-on experience not only in building and designing hardware, but in the review and testing process. We are helping to prepare and inspire students to get out of classroom and into the aerospace industry as a capable and energizing part of our future workforce.”
NASA announced James Madison University as the overall winner of the agency’s 2025 Student Launch challenge, followed by North Carolina State University, and The University of Alabama in Huntsville. A complete list of challenge winners can be found on the agency’s Student Launch webpage.
Participants from James Madison University – the overall winner of the 2025 NASA Student Launch competition – stand around their team’s high-powered rocket as it sits on the pad before launching on May 4 event. NASA/Krisdon Manecke Each year, a payload challenge is issued to the university teams, and this year’s task took inspiration from the agency’s Artemis missions, where NASA will send astronauts to explore the Moon for scientific discovery, economic benefit, and to build the foundation for the first crewed missions to Mars. Teams were challenged to include sensor data from STEMnauts, non-living objects representing astronauts. The STEMnaut “crew” had to relay real-time data to the student team’s mission control, just as the Artemis astronaut crew will do as they explore the lunar surface.
Student Launch is one of NASA’s seven Artemis Student Challenges – activities that connect student ingenuity with NASA’s work returning to the Moon under Artemis in preparation for human exploration of Mars.
The competition is managed by Marshall’s Office of STEM Engagement. Additional funding and support are provided by the Office of STEM Engagement’s Next Generation STEM project, NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center, the agency’s Space Operations Mission Directorate, Northrup Grumman, National Space Club Huntsville, American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, National Association of Rocketry, Relativity Space, and Bastion Technologies Inc.
To watch the full virtual awards ceremony, please visit NASA Marshall’s YouTube channel.
For more information about Student Launch, visit:
https://www.nasa.gov/learning-resources/nasa-student-launch/
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Last Updated Jun 16, 2025 EditorBeth RidgewayLocationMarshall Space Flight Center Related Terms
Marshall Space Flight Center Find Your Place For Colleges & Universities Learning Resources Explore More
3 min read NASA Announces Teams for 2025 Student Launch Challenge
Article 9 months ago 4 min read 25 Years Strong: NASA’s Student Launch Competition Accepting 2025 Proposals
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By NASA
2 Min Read NASA Seeks Commercial Feedback on Space Communication Solutions
An illustration of a commercial space relay ecosystem. Credits: NASA / Morgan Johnson NASA is seeking information from U.S. and international companies about Earth proximity relay communication and navigation capabilities as the agency aims to use private industry satellite communications services for emerging agency science missions.
“As part of NASA’s Communications Services Project, the agency is working with private industry to solve challenges for future exploration,” said Kevin Coggins, deputy associate administrator of NASA’s SCaN Program. “Through this effort, NASA missions will have a greater ability to command spacecraft, resolve issues in flight, and bring home more data and scientific discoveries collected across the solar system.”
In November 2024, NASA announced the TDRS (Tracking and Data Relay Satellite) system, the agency’s network of satellites relaying communications from the International Space Station, ground controls on Earth, and spacecraft, will support only existing missions.
NASA, as one of many customers, will obtain commercial satellite services rather than owning and operating a replacement for the existing satellite system. As NASA transitions to commercial relay services, the agency will leverage commercial capabilities to ensure support for future missions and stimulate private investment into the Earth proximity region. Commercial service offerings could become available to NASA missions as early as 2028 and will continue to be demonstrated and validated through 2031.
NASA’s SCaN issued a Request for Information on May 30. Responses are due by 5 p.m. EDT on Friday, July 11.
NASA’s SCaN Program serves as the management office for the agency’s space communications and navigation. More than 100 NASA and non-NASA missions rely on SCaN’s two networks, the Near Space Network and the Deep Space Network, to support astronauts aboard the International Space Station and future Artemis missions, monitor Earth’s weather, support lunar exploration, and uncover the solar system and beyond.
Learn more about NASA’s SCaN Program at:
https://www.nasa.gov/scan
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Last Updated Jun 16, 2025 EditorJimi RussellContactMolly KearnsLocationGlenn Research Center Related Terms
Commercial Space General Glenn Research Center The Future of Commercial Space Tracking and Data Relay Satellite (TDRS) Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASA
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By European Space Agency
Video: 00:24:33 Watch the replay of the ESA-CNES press conference held at the Paris Air Show 2025 (Le Bourget) on 16 June 2025, with Josef Aschbacher, Director General of ESA, and Lionel Suchet, Executive Vice President of CNES.
Download the transcript.
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