NASA is set to provide an update on its plan to send astronauts back to the moon, and you can watch the announcement live on Thursday (Dec. 5).
Key NASA officials will host a press conference on Thursday to inform the public about the progress of NASA’s Artemis program. The program aims to send Artemis 2 astronauts on a mission around the moon next year, followed by a landing near the lunar south pole during the Artemis 3 mission in 2026. The press conference will begin at 1 p.m. EST (1800 GMT) and will be live-streamed on the NASA+ streaming service as well as in the window above.
The Artemis update comes at a time of change for the U.S. government and NASA following the recent presidential election. President-elect Donald Trump has selected American entrepreneur Jared Isaacman as the next NASA administrator. Isaacman, who is a pilot and private astronaut, financed his own missions to orbit with SpaceX and most recently completed a private spacewalk during the Polaris Dawn mission in September. Isaacman has booked two more SpaceX flights under his Polaris program.
The Artemis program update on Thursday is expected to focus on the progress of NASA’s first crewed Artemis mission, Artemis 2, which is currently scheduled to launch four astronauts around the moon in September 2025. Originally planned for a November 2024 launch, the mission has faced delays due to heat shield issues with the Orion spacecraft identified during the uncrewed Artemis 1 test flight around the moon in 2022.
NASA’s current administrator, Bill Nelson, a former Florida Senator who also flew on a space shuttle mission, will lead the Artemis program update on Thursday. He will be joined by NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy, astronaut and space shuttle commander, as well as Artemis 2 mission commander and astronaut Reid Wisman.
Additional NASA officials, including Catherine Koerner, associate administrator for exploration systems, and Amit Kshatriya, deputy associate administrator of the agency’s Moon to Mars program office, will also speak during the briefing.
