NASA releases trove of Moon data from historic Artemis II flight
Nature, Published online: 07 October 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-03197-7 Annotated images and more collected by the four astronauts could inform missions to the lunar surface.
NASA has unveiled the full scientific dataset and captivating imagery collected during the Artemis II mission, which saw astronauts orbit the Moon and return to Earth. The crew, comprising Christina Koch, Victor Glover, Reid Wiseman, and Jeremy Hansen, captured over 11,000 high-resolution images, audio recordings of their observations, and annotated images from April 6, 2026.
This is the first such dataset primarily gathered by humans in more than half a century, offering a unique perspective on our lunar neighbor. The dataset includes the crew's handwritten annotations and color perceptions, complementing decades of data from Apollo missions and robotic explorers. NASA has also released three reports detailing the mission's science operations and data collection, which are already aiding future Artemis missions. For more details, visit https://go.nasa.gov/Artemis2LunarScience.
Written by urgent.news from NASA Science's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
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