NASA | DD News

April 11, 2026 9:30 AM

Artemis II astronauts safely back on Earth after trip around moon

The Artemis II capsule and its four-member crew streaked through Earth's atmosphere and safely splashed down in the Pacific Ocean on Friday after nearly 10 days in space, capping the first voyage by humans to the vicinity of the moon in over half a century. NASA's gumdrop-shaped Orion capsule, dubbed Integrity, parachuted gently into calm seas off the Southern California coast shortly after 5:07 p.m. Pacific Time (0007 GMT on Saturday), concluding a mission that four days prior took the astrona...

April 9, 2026 11:27 AM

NASA Artemis II astronauts prepare to end moon mission in ‘fireball’ re-entry

Four astronauts traveling back to Earth from the far side of the moon on NASA's Artemis II mission spoke of their emotions as they wrapped up the unprecedented flight and prepared to re-enter the atmosphere in a "fireball", during their first press conference from space on Wednesday. The Artemis II crew, flying in their Orion capsule since launching from Florida last week, are due to splash down off the Southern California coast on Friday evening after reaching the moon earlier this week. T...

April 2, 2026 9:17 AM

NASA launches four astronauts on world’s first crewed lunar mission in half a century

Four astronauts blasted off from Florida on Wednesday on NASA's Artemis II mission, a high-stakes voyage around the moon that marks the United States' boldest step yet toward returning humans to the lunar surface later this decade in a race with China. NASA's Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, topped with its Orion crew capsule, roared to life just before sunset at the agency's Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, carrying its debut crew - three U.S. astronauts and a Canadian astrona...

April 1, 2026 3:47 PM

NASA counts down for first crewed lunar mission in half a century

NASA is set to launch four astronauts as soon as Wednesday evening on a 10-day flight around the moon, marking the most ambitious U.S. space mission in decades and a major step toward returning humans to the lunar surface before China's first crewed landing. NASA mission managers on Monday polled "go" to launch the Artemis II mission's towering, 322-ft (98-m) Space Launch System (SLS) rocket topped with the astronauts' Orion crew capsule as early as 6:24 p.m. EDT (2224 GMT) on Wednesday. ...

March 25, 2026 9:19 AM

NASA plans moon base, nuclear spacecraft in multibillion-dollar moon program expansion

NASA announced on Tuesday it has canceled plans to deploy a space station in lunar orbit and will instead use components from the project to build a $20 billion base on the moon's surface, while also planning to send a nuclear-powered spacecraft to Mars. U.S. space agency chief Jared Isaacman, an appointee of President Donald Trump who took charge at NASA in December, announced an unprecedented array of changes to the Artemis moon program that would expand humanity's footprint in space, as the ...

February 3, 2026 6:33 PM

NASA delays Artemis 2 moon mission to March due to liquid hydrogen leak

NASA said on Tuesday it was targeting a March window to launch its Artemis 2 mission to send four astronauts around the moon after a delay in this week's departure, caused by a leak of liquid hydrogen during a key "wet dress rehearsal". The mission is the second in the multibillion-dollar Artemis moon program, following an uncrewed flight in 2022, and the first to carry astronauts around the moon in a 10-day journey to the farthest humans have ever ventured in space. The leak took place in  ...

January 21, 2026 10:06 AM

Sunita Williams retires from NASA after 27 years, three missions and record 608 days in space

Sunita Williams, one of the most accomplished astronauts in the history of human spaceflight, has retired from the American space agency NASA after an extraordinary 27-year career. Her retirement follows a historic and unexpected nine-month mission aboard the International Space Station (ISS), marking the conclusion of a journey defined by endurance, leadership, and scientific excellence. According to a statement by NASA, Sunita Williams retired from the agency, effective December 27, 2025. �...

January 18, 2026 2:06 PM

NASA rolls giant SLS rocket to launchpad for second Artemis moon mission

NASA rolled its massive Space Launch System rocket toward its launchpad in Florida on Saturday, kicking off a final phase of preparations for the agency's Artemis II mission that is poised to send four astronauts around the moon and back as soon as next month. Traveling just one mile (1.6 km) per hour on its mobile launch platform, the 322-foot-tall (98 m) SLS emerged at sunrise from the giant garage doors of NASA's Vehicle Assembly Building at the Kennedy Space Center for a crawl to its launch...

January 8, 2026 3:37 PM

NASA considers rare early ISS crew return due to astronaut’s medical issue

NASA is considering a rare early return of its crew from the International Space Station over an unspecified medical issue involving one of the astronauts, after cancelling a planned spacewalk that had been scheduled for Thursday, the agency said. A NASA spokeswoman said the astronaut with the medical concern, whom she did not identify, was in a stable condition on the orbiting laboratory. "Safely conducting our missions is our highest priority, and we are actively evaluating all options, incl...

November 19, 2025 6:44 PM

NASA set to release new images of interstellar object 3I/ATLAS

NASA is set on Wednesday to release new images of an interstellar object called 3I/ATLAS that astronomers have determined is a comet probably even older than our solar system. 3I/ATLAS was first spotted in July by an Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System, or ATLAS, telescope located in Rio Hurtado, Chile, and has been tracked by astronomers since then. Its unusual trajectory indicated that it was passing through our solar system from parts unknown. NASA said 3I/ATLAS p...