Artemis I Moon to Mars Briefing

NASA holds a prelaunch media briefing on the agency’s Moon to Mars exploration plans on Aug. 27, 2022, at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, as the clock counts down to the launch of Artemis I scheduled for Aug. 29, at 8:33 a.m. EDT from Kennedy’s Launch Complex 39B. From left, are Jackie McGuinness, NASA press secretary; Bill Nelson, NASA administrator; Bhavya Lal, NASA associate administrator for technology, policy and strategy; Jim Free, NASA associate administrator, Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate; Kathy Lueders, NASA associate administrator, Space Operations Mission Directorate; Thomas Zurbuchen, NASA associate administrator, Science Mission Directorate; Prasun Desai, NASA deputy associate administrator, Space Technology Mission Directorate; and Randy Bresnik, NASA astronaut. The first in a series of increasingly complex missions, Artemis I will provide a foundation for human deep space exploration and demonstrate our commitment and capability to extend human presence to the Moon and beyond. The primary goal of Artemis I is to thoroughly test the integrated systems before crewed missions by operating the spacecraft in a deep space environment, testing Orion’s heat shield, and recovering the crew module after reentry, descent, and splashdown.