Fuck Yeah, Celestial Things

Once their custom-fit suits were checked and the astronauts were ready, they walked out to greet the crowd at our Kennedy Space Center in Florida. After saying hi to everyone, including their families, the quartet made their way onto the Orion spacecraft that would carry them to the Moon.

The astronauts entered Orion and completed more checks. Next, the closeout crew closed the final hatch on Orion.

Then, it was time for the big moment – well, the first big moment of the mission: Liftoff!

Orion was on its way to the Moon, and the astronauts aboard had plenty to do.

They exercised…

and conducted interviews…

all while showing the camaraderie and collaboration that make missions possible.

And that means Rise, too! The little plush zero gravity indicator was a constant companion throughout the mission.

Finally, it was time for them to go around the Moon and observe its far side. As the astronauts began to describe features of the Moon that they saw, they had a heartfelt moment when suggesting that a crater be named after Reid's late wife, Carroll.

During the lunar flyby, the foursome experienced a solar eclipse that only they could see!

All throughout the mission, there were many moments of "Moon Joy."

After the crew completed their observation duties, it was time to start the journey back home.

On April 10, the Artemis II astronauts safely splashed down in the Pacific Ocean, bringing the mission to a triumphant end.

These GIFs are just a taste of the amazing imagery and memorable moments from Artemis II. Relive it all on our YouTube channel: youtube.com/NASA

NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope was carefully packed into a protective container for its eight-day voyage to the launch site.

Engineers loaded Roman into a protective container and drove it to the Port of Baltimore. Over the course of the next eight days, the observatory traveled over 800 nautical miles down the Atlantic coast on NASA’s Pegasus barge to its new temporary home in Florida. Roman also brought a buddy along for the ride: a weather cover for the Artemis III SLS (Space Launch System) core stage.

A variety of specialists attended the Roman observatory’s journey from NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., to the port it shipped from at Baltimore. That includes tree trimmers who periodically cleared the path for the large transportation vehicle to pass through.

Upon arrival, technicians moved Roman into a massive airlock within Kennedy’s Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility. This facility has an air filtration system that removes the contaminants that entered the building when the massive door opened. This step protects the spacecraft when it comes out of its transportation container.

Fittingly, our Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope traveled to the launch site in a special transport vehicle called the CHARIOT (Conditioned Housing for Air, Road, Imaging optics assembly, and Observatory Transport) on a barge known as the Pegasus.

Next up is a grand unboxing! Technicians will use powerful cranes to move Roman to its work platform, called the Pantheon. The team will test Roman’s solar panels and inspect its insulation and thermal blankets to ensure the observatory is fully protected and flight ready. Then they’ll load about 290 gallons (roughly 1,100 liters) of hydrazine fuel into the tanks.

Once in space, Roman will deliver mind-boggling observations at a rapid rate. The mission will pair a large field of view with crisp infrared vision to scan vast, deep swaths of sky. That will help astronomers explore dark matter, dark energy, exoplanets, and much more. Since each of Roman’s surveys will sample such a large volume of the cosmos, very little will be beyond Roman’s reach.

Follow along with Roman’s road to launch at science.nasa.gov/blogs/roman.