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By NASA
Technicians move the Orion spacecraft for NASA’s Artemis II test flight out of the Neil A. Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building to the Multi-Payload Processing Facility at Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Saturday, May 3, 2025. NASA/Kim Shiflett Engineers, technicians, mission planners, and the four astronauts set to fly around the Moon next year on Artemis II, NASA’s first crewed Artemis mission, are rapidly progressing toward launch.
At the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, teams are working around the clock to move into integration and final testing of all SLS (Space Launch System) and Orion spacecraft elements. Recently they completed two key milestones – connecting the SLS upper stage with the rest of the assembled rocket and moving Orion from its assembly facility to be fueled for flight.
“We’re extremely focused on preparing for Artemis II, and the mission is nearly here,” said Lakiesha Hawkins, assistant deputy associate administrator for NASA’s Moon to Mars Program, who also will chair the mission management team during Artemis II. “This crewed test flight, which will send four humans around the Moon, will inform our future missions to the Moon and Mars.”
Teams with NASA’s Exploration Ground Systems Program begin integrating the interim cryogenic propulsion stage to the SLS (Space Launch System) launch vehicle stage adapter on Wednesday, April 30, 2025, inside the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. NASA/Isaac Watson On May 1, technicians successfully attached the interim cryogenic propulsion stage to the SLS rocket elements already poised atop mobile launcher 1, including its twin solid rocket boosters and core stage, inside the spaceport’s Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB). This portion of the rocket produces 24,750 pounds of thrust for Orion after the rest of the rocket has completed its job. Teams soon will move into a series of integrated tests to ensure all the rocket’s elements are communicating with each other and the Launch Control Center as expected. The tests include verifying interfaces and ensuring SLS systems work properly with the ground systems.
Meanwhile, on May 3, Orion left its metaphorical nest, the Neil Armstrong Operations & Checkout Facility at Kennedy, where it was assembled and underwent initial testing. There the crew module was outfitted with thousands of parts including critical life support systems for flight and integrated with the service module and crew module adapter. Its next stop on the road to the launch pad is the Multi-Payload Processing Facility, where it will be carefully fueled with propellants, high pressure gases, coolant, and other fluids the spacecraft and its crew need to maneuver in space and carry out the mission.
After fueling is complete, the four astronauts flying on the mission around the Moon and back over the course of approximately 10 days, will board the spacecraft in their Orion Crew Survival System spacesuits to test all the equipment interfaces they will need to operate during the mission. This will mark the first time NASA’s Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch, and CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut Jeremy Hansen, will board their actual spacecraft while wearing their spacesuits. After the crewed testing is complete, technicians will move Orion to Kennedy’s Launch Abort System Facility, where the critical escape system will be added. From there, Orion will move to the VAB to be integrated with the fully assembled rocket.
NASA also announced its second agreement with an international space agency to fly a CubeSat on the mission. The collaborations provide opportunities for other countries to work alongside NASA to integrate and fly technology and experiments as part of the agency’s Artemis campaign.
While engineers at Kennedy integrate and test hardware with their eyes on final preparations for the mission, teams responsible for launching and flying the mission have been busy preparing for a variety of scenarios they could face.
The launch team at Kennedy has completed more than 30 simulations across cryogenic propellant loading and terminal countdown scenarios. The crew has been taking part in simulations for mission scenarios, including with teams in mission control. In April, the crew and the flight control team at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston simulated liftoff through a planned manual piloting test together for the first time. The crew also recently conducted long-duration fit checks for their spacesuits and seats, practicing several operations while under various suit pressures.
NASA astronaut Christina Koch participates in a fit check April 18, 2025, in the spacesuit she will wear during Artemis II. NASA/Josh Valcarcel Teams are heading into a busy summer of mission preparations. While hardware checkouts and integration continue, in coming months the crew, flight controllers, and launch controllers will begin practicing their roles in the mission together as part of integrated simulations. In May, the crew will begin participating pre-launch operations and training for emergency scenarios during launch operations at Kennedy and observe a simulation by the launch control team of the terminal countdown portion of launch. In June, recovery teams will rehearse procedures they would use in the case of a pad or ascent abort off the coast of Florida, with launch and flight control teams supporting. The mission management team, responsible for reviewing mission status and risk assessments for issues that arise and making decisions about them, also will begin practicing their roles in simulations. Later this summer, the Orion stage adapter will arrive at the VAB from NASA’s Marshall Spaceflight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, and stacked on top of the rocket.
NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman (foreground) and Victor Glover participate in a simulation of their Artemis II entry profile on March 13, 2025.NASA/Bill Stafford 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.
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By NASA
Researchers with NASA’s Exploration Research and Technology programs conduct molten regolith electrolysis testing inside Swamp Works at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024.NASA/Kim Shiflett As NASA works to establish a long-term presence on the Moon, researchers have reached a breakthrough by extracting oxygen at a commercial scale from simulated lunar soil at Swamp Works at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The achievement moves NASA one step closer to its goal of utilizing resources on the Moon and beyond instead of relying only on supplies shipped from Earth.
NASA Kennedy researchers in the Exploration Research and Technology programs teamed up with Lunar Resources Inc. (LUNAR), a space industrial company in Houston, Texas, to perform molten regolith electrolysis. Researchers used the company’s resource extraction reactor, called LR-1, along with NASA Kennedy’s vacuum chamber. During the recent vacuum chamber testing, molecular oxygen was measured in its pure form along with the production of metals from a batch of dust and rock that simulates lunar soil, often referred to as “regolith,” in the industry.
“This is the first time NASA has produced molecular oxygen using this process,” said Dr. Annie Meier, molten regolith electrolysis project manager at NASA Kennedy. “The process of heating up the reactor is like using an elaborate cooking pot. Once the lid is on, we are essentially watching the gas products come out.”
During testing, the vacuum environment chamber replicated the vacuum pressure of the lunar surface. The extraction reactor heated about 55 pounds (25 kilograms) of simulated regolith up to a temperature of 3100°F (1700°C) until it melted. Researchers then passed an electric current through the molten regolith until oxygen in a gas form was separated from the metals of the soil. They measured and collected the molecular oxygen for further study.
In addition to air for breathing, astronauts could use oxygen from the Moon as a propellant for NASA’s lunar landers and for building essential infrastructure. This practice of in-situ resource utilization (ISRU) also decreases the costs of deep space exploration by reducing the number of resupply missions needed from Earth.
Once the process is perfected on Earth, the reactor and its subsystems can be delivered on future missions to the Moon. Lunar rovers, similar to NASA’s ISRU Pilot Excavator, could autonomously gather the regolith to bring back to the reactor system to separate the metals and oxygen.
“Using this unique chemical process can produce the oxidizer, which is half of the propellant mix, and it can create vital metals used in the production of solar panels that in turn could power entire lunar base stations,” said Evan Bell, mechanical structures and mechatronics lead at NASA Kennedy.
Post-test data analysis will help the NASA and LUNAR teams better understand the thermal and chemical function of full-scale molten regolith electrolysis reactors for the lunar surface. The vacuum chamber and reactor also can be upgraded to represent other locations of the lunar environment as well as conditions on Mars for further testing.
Researchers at NASA Kennedy began developing and testing molten regolith electrolysis reactors in the early 1990s. Swamp Works is a hands-on learning environment facility at NASA Kennedy that takes ideas through development and into application to benefit space exploration and everyone living on Earth. From 2019 to 2023, Swamp Works developed an early concept reactor under vacuum conditions named Gaseous Lunar Oxygen from Regolith Electrolysis (GaLORE). Scientists at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston conducted similar testing in 2023, removing carbon monoxide from simulated lunar regolith in a vacuum chamber.
“We always say that Kennedy Space Center is Earth’s premier spaceport, and this breakthrough in molten regolith electrolysis is just another aspect of us being the pioneers in providing spaceport capabilities on the Moon, Mars, and beyond,” Bell said.
NASA’s Exploration Research and Technology programs, related laboratories, and research facilities develop technologies that will enable human deep space exploration. NASA’s Game Changing Development program, managed by the agency’s Space Technology Mission Directorate funded the project.
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By NASA
3 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)
Gateway’s HALO module at Northrop Grumman’s facility in Gilbert, Arizona, on April 4, 2025, shortly after its arrival from Thales Alenia Space in Turin, Italy. NASA/Josh Valcarcel NASA continues to mark progress on plans to work with commercial and international partners as part of the Gateway program. The primary structure of HALO (Habitation and Logistics Outpost) arrived at Northrop Grumman’s facility in Gilbert, Arizona, where it will undergo final outfitting and verification testing.
HALO will provide Artemis astronauts with space to live, work, and conduct scientific research. The habitation module will be equipped with essential systems including command and control, data handling, energy storage, power distribution, and thermal regulation.
Following HALO’s arrival on April 1 from Thales Alenia Space in Turin, Italy, where it was assembled, NASA and Northrop Grumman hosted an April 24 event to acknowledge the milestone, and the module’s significance to lunar exploration. The event opened with remarks by representatives from Northrop Grumman and NASA, including NASA’s Acting Associate Administrator for Exploration Systems Development Lori Glaze, Gateway Program Manager Jon Olansen, and NASA astronaut Randy Bresnik. Event attendees, including Senior Advisor to the NASA Administrator Todd Ericson, elected officials, and local industry and academic leaders, viewed HALO and virtual reality demonstrations during a tour of the facilities.
Dr. Lori Glaze, acting associate administrator for NASA’s Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate, and Dr. Jon B. Olansen, Gateway Program manager, on stage during an April 24, 2025, event at Northrop Grumman’s facility in Gilbert, Arizona, commemorating HALO’s arrival in the United States. Northrop Grumman While the module is in Arizona, HALO engineers and technicians will install propellant lines for fluid transfer and electrical lines for power and data transfer. Radiators will be attached for the thermal control system, as well as racks to house life support hardware, power equipment, flight computers, and avionics systems. Several mechanisms will be mounted to enable docking of the Orion spacecraft, lunar landers, and visiting spacecraft.
Launching on top of HALO is the ESA (European Space Agency)-provided Lunar Link system which will enable communication between crewed and robotic systems on the Moon and to mission control on Earth. Once these systems are installed, the components will be tested as an integrated spacecraft and subjected to thermal vacuum, acoustics, vibration, and shock testing to ensure the spacecraft is ready to perform in the harsh conditions of deep space.
In tandem with HALO’s outfitting at Northrop Grumman, the Power and Propulsion Element – a powerful solar electric propulsion system – is being assembled at Maxar Space Systems in Palo Alto, California. Solar electric propulsion uses energy collected from solar panels converted to electricity to create xenon ions, then accelerates them to more than 50,000 miles per hour to create thrust that propels the spacecraft.
The element’s central cylinder, which resembles a large barrel, is being attached to the propulsion tanks, and avionics shelves are being installed. The first of three 12-kilowatt thrusters has been delivered to NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland for acceptance testing before delivery to Maxar and integration with the Power and Propulsion Element later this year.
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Last Updated Apr 25, 2025 ContactLaura RochonLocationJohnson Space Center Related Terms
Artemis Artemis 4 Earth's Moon Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate Gateway Space Station General Humans in Space Explore More
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By NASA
3 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)
NASA’s Curiosity rover appears as a dark speck in this contrast-enhanced view captured on Feb. 28, 2025, by the HiRISE camera aboard NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. Trailing Curiosity are the rover’s tracks, which can linger on the Martian surface for months before being erased by the wind. NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona The image marks what may be the first time one of the agency’s Mars orbiters has captured the rover driving.
NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover has never been camera shy, having been seen in selfies and images taken from space. But on Feb. 28 — the 4,466th Martian day, or sol, of the mission — Curiosity was captured in what is believed to be the first orbital image of the rover mid-drive across the Red Planet.
Taken by the HiRISE (High-Resolution Imaging Science Experiment) camera aboard NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, the image shows Curiosity as a dark speck at the front of a long trail of rover tracks. Likely to last for months before being erased by wind, the tracks span about 1,050 feet (320 meters). They represent roughly 11 drives starting on Feb. 2 as Curiosity trucked along at a top speed of 0.1 mph (0.16 kph) from Gediz Vallis channel on the journey to its next science stop: a region with potential boxwork formations, possibly made by groundwater billions of years ago.
How quickly the rover reaches the area depends on a number of factors, including how its software navigates the surface and how challenging the terrain is to climb. Engineers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, which leads Curiosity’s mission, work with scientists to plan each day’s trek.
“By comparing the time HiRISE took the image to the rover’s commands for the day, we can see it was nearly done with a 69-foot drive,” said Doug Ellison, Curiosity’s planning team chief at JPL.
Designed to ensure the best spatial resolution, HiRISE takes an image with the majority of the scene in black and white and a strip of color down the middle. While the camera has captured Curiosity in color before, this time the rover happened to fall within the black-and-white part of the image.
In the new image, Curiosity’s tracks lead to the base of a steep slope. The rover has since ascended that slope since then, and it is expected to reach its new science location within a month or so.
More About Curiosity and MRO
NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover was built at JPL, which is managed for the agency by Caltech in Pasadena, California. JPL manages both the Curiosity and Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter missions on behalf of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington as part of the agency’s Mars Exploration Program portfolio. The University of Arizona, in Tucson, operates HiRISE, which was built by BAE Systems in Boulder, Colorado.
For more about the missions, visit:
science.nasa.gov/mission/msl-curiosity
science.nasa.gov/mission/mars-reconnaissance-orbiter
News Media Contacts
Andrew Good
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
818-393-2433
andrew.c.good@jpl.nasa.gov
Karen Fox / Molly Wasser
NASA Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1600
karen.c.fox@nasa.gov / molly.l.wasser@nasa.gov
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Last Updated Apr 24, 2025 Related Terms
Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) Curiosity (Rover) Mars Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) Explore More
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By NASA
The asteroid Donaldjohanson as seen by the Lucy Long-Range Reconnaissance Imager (L’LORRI). This is one of the most detailed images returned by NASA’s Lucy spacecraft during its flyby. This image was taken at 1:51 p.m. EDT (17:51 UTC), April 20, 2025, near closest approach, from a range of approximately 660 miles (1,100 km). The spacecraft’s closest approach distance was 600 miles (960 km), but the image shown was taken approximately 40 seconds beforehand. The image has been sharpened and processed to enhance contrast.NASA/Goddard/SwRI/Johns Hopkins APL/NOIRLab NASA’s Lucy spacecraft took this image of the main belt asteroid Donaldjohanson during its flyby on April 20, 2025, showing the elongated contact binary (an object formed when two smaller bodies collide). This was Lucy’s second flyby in the spacecraft’s 12-year mission.
Launched on Oct. 16, 2021, Lucy is the first space mission sent to explore a diverse population of small bodies known as the Jupiter Trojan asteroids. These remnants of our early solar system are trapped on stable orbits associated with – but not close to – the giant planet Jupiter. Lucy will explore a record-breaking number of asteroids, flying by three asteroids in the solar system’s main asteroid belt, and by eight Trojan asteroids that share an orbit around the Sun with Jupiter. April 20, 2025 marked Lucy’s second flyby. The spacecraft’s next target is Trojan asteroid Eurybates and its satellite Queta in Aug. 2027.
Lucy is named for a fossilized skeleton of a prehuman ancestor. This flyby marked the first time NASA sent a spacecraft to a planetary body named after a living person. Asteroid Donaldjohanson was unnamed before becoming a target. The name Donaldjohanson was chosen in honor of the paleoanthropologist who discovered the Lucy fossil, Dr. Donald Johanson.
Learn more about Lucy’s flyby of asteroid Donaldjohanson.
Image credit: NASA/Goddard/SwRI/Johns Hopkins APL/NOIRLab
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