Topic
NASA's program to return astronauts to the Moon, encompassing crewed test flights, lunar landings, a planned surface base, and related science goals.
NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman named Stephen Cash director of Marshall Space Flight Center, effective Oct. 19. He cited advanced propulsion and nuclear power as the work Cash is meant to lead the center into.
Reality
NASA reports Orion's Artemis II heat shield had nine spots of char loss, down from 103 on Artemis I, after a change to the reentry trajectory. The comparison rests on two flights and NASA's own review.
Reality
NASA released three reports and a data archive from Artemis II on October 7, three days before its six-month deadline. Science News reports that the crew's spoken and written notes proved more valuable than the photos.
Reality
Smithsonian-led researchers mapped over 10,000 young lunar faults and estimate the moon shrank about 45 meters over 400 to 800 million years. Because the moon is a single plate, the faults are spread across its surface and moonquakes can start anywhere.
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SpaceX's Starship reached orbit for the first time on Sept. 28, its 14th test flight, carrying the first Starlink V3 satellites, space.com reported. Whether Starlink is a detour from Mars or the destination is where its two quoted analysts part ways.
Reality
NASA will make astronaut Christina Koch acting deputy chief engineer on Nov. 1, ending her eligibility for future spaceflight assignments. She takes the seat Katherine Van Hooser leaves when she retires Oct. 21, and Amit Kshatriya holds the chief engineer title.
Reality
NASA has selected 12 U.S. institutions to receive $12 million through M-STAR, up to $1 million each, for Moon and Mars research. The agency says the awards should build research capacity and help the schools compete for later federal and commercial awards.
Reality
NASA released a preliminary Artemis II lunar science report built from the four-person crew's photos, spoken notes and drawings. Researchers can now test whether those observations hold science that instruments alone would have missed.
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NASA has released the full Artemis II lunar science dataset, including five faint impact flashes the crew marked by hand on a tablet image. Scientists outside the mission can now examine those sightings, though without a stated watch time they cannot yet give an impact rate.
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SpaceX put Starship into orbit on its first orbital flight even after one of the upper stage's six Raptor engines shut down early. It sets up the orbital refuelling tests NASA's 2028 moon landing depends on, though those tests and an upper-stage catch are still ahead.
Reality
Artemis II commander Reid Wiseman and pilot Victor Glover moved to emeritus advisory roles at NASA to help teams prepare Artemis III for 2027. Their Orion experience will now reach that Earth-orbit docking test through volunteer mentoring.
Reality
The Artemis II crew flew 252,756 miles from Earth, farther than anyone before them. The medals presented in Houston close the mission out institutionally, while its successor is scheduled to stay in low Earth orbit.
Reality
Engineers have published spacing and holding strategies for spacecraft waiting their turn at lunar Gateway, well ahead of the landers and cargo craft that will have to fly them.
Reality