NASA’s top team is about to offer its first major update on its ambitious Artemis program in almost a year.
The event, which will be streamed live online, will be led by NASA chief Bill Nelson and will take place at NASA headquarters in Washington, DC, on Thursday, December 5.
The Artemis program is NASA’s lunar exploration initiative aimed at returning humans to the moon for the first time since 1972. The first crewed Artemis lunar landing could take place as early as September 2026 as part of the Artemis III mission, with NASA hopefully able to confirm at Thursday’s presentation that it’s still on track to meet its target.
Before then, it’s planning to send four astronauts on a flyby of the moon in the Artemis II mission, currently targeted for September 2025. The flight will replicate the one taken by the Orion capsule in the uncrewed Artemis I mission that took place in 2022.
But it should be noted that both Artemis II and Artemis III have already experienced delays, so it’s possible that additional ones could be on the way. A major issue that NASA needs to resolve, and which could affect Artemis mission timelines, centers on Orion’s heat shield, which suffered more wear and tear than expected when it reentered Earth’s atmosphere at the end of the Artemis I voyage. NASA is expected to address this subject during Thursday’s meeting.
Besides updates on the next two Artemis missions, NASA could also discuss the current state of the SLS rocket, the powerful launch system that powered the Orion to orbit on its first flight in the Artemis I mission, and which will also be used for future Artemis launches.
The agency’s next-generation lunar spacesuits could also be on the agenda, along with news on when deployment might begin of the Lunar Gateway, a small facility that will orbit the moon and host astronauts in a similar way to how the International Space Station operates in Earth orbit today. The Lunar Gateway will also act as a staging post for crewed missions to the lunar surface.
We might also get updates on preparations for future missions such as Artemis IV, V, and VI, along with plans for the expansion of scientific capabilities and the introduction of new elements like the Lunar Terrain Vehicle.
How to watch
NASA’s Artemis update, led by NASA chief Bill Nelson, will begin at 1 p.m. ET on Thursday, December 5.
You can watch the media event via the video player embedded at the top of this page. The same live stream will also appear on NASA+.