Orientale is a very large impact feature on the Moon that is approximately 650 km wide.

The Artemis II mission will fly by the Moon at a higher altitude than previous Apollo orbits.

During Apollo 8, the astronauts turned their spacecraft to see Earth, leading to the famous photograph called 'Earthrise.'

Artemis II will be a flyby mission and will not land on the Moon.

The Artemis II mission will focus on science and learning to sustain a presence on another world.

NASA aims to inspire a new generation while testing modernized systems for a sustained human presence on the Moon.

One of the photographic targets for the Artemis II mission is to capture pictures of Earth beyond the limb of the Moon.

The NASA Goddard Space Flight Center created a video titled 'Artemis Science: Visualizing NASA’s Next Lunar Flyby.'

'Earthrise' had a huge impact on the public by highlighting that Earth is a finite place.

NASA’s Artemis II mission will mark a historic return to the Moon after 50 years.

Artemis II will allow astronauts to witness unexplored regions of the lunar surface for the first time.

Artemis II astronauts will see parts of the Moon that have never been seen by human eyes before.

The middle of Orientale contains dark basalt lava covering.

During final checkouts before rollout, technicians found a cable involved in the flight termination system was bent out of specifications and are replacing it.

If the wet dress rehearsal is successful, NASA will conduct a flight readiness review to determine whether to commit to a launch date.

During the wet dress rehearsal, teams will load over 700,000 gallons of cryogenic propellants into the rocket and conduct a launch countdown.

The journey from the Vehicle Assembly Building at Kennedy Space Center to Launch Pad 39B is 6.4 km (4 miles) and can take up to 12 hours.

NASA has 16 launch windows available from February 6 to April 30, 2026, with each window lasting 120 minutes.

The wet dress rehearsal will include several runs to demonstrate the team's ability to hold, resume, and recycle various times in the final 10 minutes of the countdown.

On January 5, 2026, the team successfully replaced and tested a valve associated with Orion’s hatch pressurization.

NASA's Space Launch System (SLS) rocket is scheduled to roll out from the Vehicle Assembly Building to Launch Pad 39B on January 17, 2026.

Engineers are working to resolve leaky ground support hardware needed to load gaseous oxygen into Orion for breathing air.

If the rollout occurs as planned, the earliest launch attempt for the SLS rocket is on February 6, 2026, at 9:41 PM ET.

Once the rollout is complete, NASA will begin a checklist to ensure readiness for the wet dress rehearsal and tanking test at the end of January 2026.

There are five launch windows in February and March 2026, and six in April 2026.

NASA-SpaceX Crew-11 missions generally last around six months.

The medical evacuation did not result from any injury onboard, and the unidentified crew member is stable.

The International Space Station has been continuously inhabited since 2000.

Officials indicated it is possible the next US mission could depart for the ISS earlier than scheduled.

NASA and SpaceX target undocking Crew-11 from the International Space Station no earlier than 5pm ET on January 14.

The medical evacuation involving a crew member on the International Space Station is the first in ISS history.

American astronauts Mike Fincke and Zena Cardman, Japan's Kimiya Yui, and Russia's Oleg Platonov will be returning to Earth.

The four astronauts on NASA-SpaceX Crew-11 have been on their mission since August 1.

American astronaut Chris Williams will remain onboard the International Space Station to maintain a US presence.

The ISS functions as a testbed for research that supports deeper space exploration, including missions to Mars.

The ISS is set to be decommissioned after 2030.

The orbit of the ISS will be gradually lowered until it breaks up in the atmosphere over a remote part of the Pacific Ocean called Point Nemo, a spacecraft graveyard.

Splashdown off California is targeted for early January 15, depending on weather and recovery conditions.

The Artemis mission discussions include debates about astronaut safety and the safety of ground operation teams.

Open Lunar Foundation sponsored this week’s Moon Monday.

Adithya Kothandhapani sponsored this week’s Moon Monday.

The safety of passengers in flight against rocket debris is a concern in the Artemis mission discussions.

Artemis II astronauts are expected to fly and return to Earth safely.

NASA's strategy aims to transform the Moon from a destination into an operational hub for further solar system missions.

NASA plans to solicit input from commercial partners to align federal research and development investments with the evolving lunar economy's needs.

Feedback collected will influence the STMD's funding priorities for the 2027 fiscal year.

The initiative aims to identify and prioritize significant technology shortfalls in the commercial space sector for the Artemis program and future Mars missions.

NASA is prioritizing technologies that offer dual-use capabilities for government science missions and commercial enterprise.

The current solicitation focuses on high-priority technology areas essential for establishing a sustainable presence on the Moon, including advanced propulsion systems, cryogenics, lunar surface power generation, and in-situ resource utilization.

NASA expects to accelerate the maturation of the Commercial Lunar Payload Services program and other mission-critical architectures through a unified roadmap.