On Jan. 4, 2026, in the course of the Houston Texans’ Area Metropolis Day recreation, two bright-orange spacesuits stood out in opposition to the inexperienced turf at NRG Stadium. NASA’s Johnson Area Middle (JSC) used the highlight to provide followers a close-up take a look at Artemis 2, the company’s first crewed mission within the Artemis marketing campaign to return people to the moon.
The Texans performed the Indianapolis Colts that day, by the best way, and gained 38-30.
What’s it?
Artemis 2 is designed as a 10-day lunar flyby that can ship 4 astronauts — NASA’s Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch, plus Canadian Area Company astronaut Jeremy Hansen — across the moon and again to Earth aboard the Orion spacecraft, launched on NASA’s Area Launch System (SLS) rocket.
Not like later Artemis touchdown missions, Artemis 2 is primarily a deep-space shakeout: the crew will confirm Orion’s methods within the surroundings past low Earth orbit, from life help to navigation to communications, constructing straight on the uncrewed Artemis 1 check flight to lunar orbit in 2022.
NASA at present lists Artemis 2’s focused launch date as early as February, and no later than April 2026.
The place is it?
NRG Stadium is situated in Houston, Texas.
Why is it wonderful?
The Area Day Celebration exhibits how intertwined NASA’s historical past is with the town of Houston. JSC, a key hub for house exploration and human spaceflight, is not simply “close to Houston” however is house to NASA’s astronaut corps, Mission Management and key packages like Orion and Gateway, making Houston’s Area Metropolis Day a pure stage for hyping up the following crewed lunar mission.
Past getting folks excited for the upcoming launch, NASA additionally inspired the general public to “experience alongside” symbolically with the astronauts. In the course of the halftime festivities, NASA promoted its “Ship Your Identify with Artemis 2” initiative, which shops contributors’ names on a small chip that can journey inside Orion on the mission, a easy strategy to flip a significant house exploration milestone into one thing open to everybody.
Wish to study extra?
You may study extra concerning the Artemis 2 mission and the historical past of moon missions.
