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Surprisingly STEM: Moon Rock Processors @ NASA Johnson

Want to meet a “rock” star? How about two? Andrea Mosie and Juliane Gross work in the Astromaterials lab at NASA’s Johnson Space Center. It’s their job to keep track of every Moon rock sample brought back to Earth by the Apollo astronauts, and to help scientists all over the world conduct lunar sample research.

Online Course: Illinois Space Tech Academy

Are you interested in learning about the space technologies of the Artemis missions? The Illinois Space Tech Academy is a free online course about NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate. Participants complete modules relating to four different topics – Go, Land, Live, Explore – and can earn a digital badge by showing mastery of each module’s content. This course is open to anyone interested in learning about the technologies which will take us to the Moon, Mars, and beyond.

A Well-Traveled Beagle

Snoopy, the zero gravity indicator that flew aboard Orion during the Artemis I mission, wears a smile after being unpacked from his transport case on Jan. 5, 2023.

Zero gravity indicators are small items carried aboard spacecraft that provide a visual indicator when a spacecraft has reached the weightlessness of microgravity.

NASA, USDA Forest Service Fly Next Generation of Moon Tree Seeds on Artemis I

In a nod to the legacy of Apollo 14, and a celebration of the future of space exploration, NASA’s Office of STEM Engagement’s Next Gen STEM project and the USDA Forest Service are partnering to fly a special payload aboard Artemis I, NASA’s first flight test of the Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft. Through a joint STEM education collaboration that connects Artemis I programming to Earth science, data literacy and citizen science, a “new generation” of Moon Tree seeds are bound for lunar orbit.

One thousand tree seeds of five different species representing a range of climates across the lower 48 United States are packed into ravioli-shaped pouches awaiting their historic journey aboard Orion, which will travel thousands of miles beyond the Moon during the mission. Nestled alongside science payloads and mementos, the tree seeds will travel farther than any spacecraft designed for human exploration has ever flown, spending about 6 weeks in space before returning to Earth.

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Learn About Artemis


What Is Artemis?

NASA is committed to landing American astronauts, including the first woman and the first person of color on the Moon under the Artemis program. Through the agency’s Artemis lunar exploration program, we will use innovative new technologies and systems to explore more of the Moon than ever before.

How We Are Going to the Moon

The Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft are designed to send humans to deep space as the backbone for America’s Moon to Mars exploration approach.

Preparing People to Go

As humans travel farther from Earth, we must learn how to sustain human life in the extreme environment of space at the Moon in preparation for human missions to Mars.