| In this week’s newsletter, meet the astronauts of Artemis III, who will carry out a series of objectives to demonstrate critical systems needed for a future lunar landing — work that will help NASA and its partners reduce risk before Americans return to the Moon on Artemis IV; learn about the major milestone NASA’s experimental X‑59 aircraft reached, setting the stage for demonstrating its quiet supersonic capabilities later this year; and explore NASA’s upcoming small satellite mission INCUS, the first space-based survey of the dynamics of tropical convective storms. Plus more stories you might have missed. |
| ARTEMIS Meet the Artemis III Crew |
| Taking another step toward one of the most complex human spaceflight missions in recent history, NASA released new details about the Artemis III mission on June 9, including the astronauts who will carry out a series of objectives designed to demonstrate critical systems for a future lunar landing. These efforts will help NASA and its partners reduce risk before Americans return to the Moon on Artemis IV. The crew — NASA astronauts Randy Bresnik, Andre Douglas, and Frank Rubio, along with ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Luca Parmitano — will begin training immediately on Orion spacecraft systems. They will also support the development and operations of test versions of the Blue Origin and SpaceX lunar landers. “Today we take another bold step in humanity’s return to the Moon, building on the extraordinary foundation laid by the Artemis II astronauts,” said NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman. “Their achievements reignited global excitement for exploration, and now they pass the torch to the Artemis III team, Randy, Luca, Frank, and Andre. Artemis III will demonstrate the power of American innovation and international partnership as we test complex rendezvous and docking operations and advance the technologies that will one day carry us deeper into the solar system. This mission will require the most awe-inspiring coordination of heavy-lift rocket launches in history, drawing on the talent and capability of teams across government and the spaceflight community. The Artemis III astronauts, alongside ESA and our international partners, and the tens of thousands of the best and brightest across the agency and industry, are ushering in a new Golden Age of exploration carrying forward the hopes and dreams of the next generation just as the Apollo astronauts did for so many of us.” PAVING THE WAY |
 | ARTEMIS Houston, We Have a Podcast On the latest episode of Houston, We Have a Podcast, the Artemis III astronauts discuss their professional backgrounds and outline the rigorous training ahead as they prepare for one of the most complex human spaceflight missions in history. LISTEN |
| AERONAUTICS Faster Than the Speed of Sound NASA’s experimental X-59 aircraft marked a major milestone on June 5, when it flew faster than the speed of sound for the first time, setting the stage for demonstrating its quiet supersonic capabilities later this year. Test pilot Jim “Clue” Less took off and landed at Edwards Air Force Base in California, reaching a top speed of approximately Mach 1.1 (713 mph) and an altitude of 43,400 feet. NASA’S X-59 AIRCRAFT |  |
 THE UNIVERSE Black Hole Stars The complex puzzle known as little red dots has become more complete since their discovery by NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope in 2022. Now, one dot in particular — GLIMPSE‑17775 — is helping connect the pieces. By carefully analyzing the dot’s spectrum captured by Webb, a team of astronomers has identified multiple lines of evidence, all of which support the interpretation that GLIMPSE-17775 is a supermassive black hole enveloped in a dense cocoon of partially ionized gas, a model referred to as the BH* (black hole star) scenario. LEARN MORE |  EARTH Improving Storm Forecasting Teams working on NASA’s INCUS, or Investigation of Convective Updrafts, mission — the first space‑based survey of the dynamics of tropical convective storms — have completed assembly and testing of two of the mission’s three small satellites. Tropical convective storms, characterized by sudden and intense lifting of large amounts of air and water, produce more than half of the world’s precipitation, a vital source of fresh water. They also generate severe weather that can pose significant risks to life and property. INCUS will help improve understanding of where, when, and why these storms form. LEARN MORE |
| More NASA News |
 | A team of geoscientists recently headed into California’s Mojave Desert, armed with rock picks and hand lenses, to investigate a curious “fingerprint” detected by a NASA sensor. Their target was topaz — not for its gem value, but because its presence could hint at a more valuable deposit below: porphyry copper. |
 | Submit your name and email for a boarding pass for the Roman mission! The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope is NASA’s next flagship astrophysics observatory. Roman’s panoramic images, each at least 100 times larger than the Hubble Space Telescope’s, will help astronomers answer major questions in the areas of dark energy, dark matter, exoplanets, and much more. Submitted names will be saved to an SD card that will fly aboard the observatory when it launches in August 2026. |
 | NASA’s Parker Solar Probe completed its 28th close pass by the Sun on June 8, again matching its record distance of 3.8 million miles from the solar surface. Each flyby lets the spacecraft measure solar wind and solar activity at the source, helping scientists understand how the Sun’s atmosphere changes throughout the solar cycle. |
 | A new NASA‑developed gamma‑ray sensor, AstroPix, will fly on a robotic arm demonstration during the agency’s Fly Foundational Robots, or FFR, mission, launching in 2027. By flight-testing robotic systems in an operational space environment, FFR represents a pivotal step in advancing robotic capabilities in space, on the Moon, at Mars, and beyond. |
 | NASA and its international partners will soon receive a new batch of scientific samples and hardware, as a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft is scheduled to leave the International Space Station on Tuesday, June 16, for its return to Earth. Live coverage of the undocking begins on NASA+ at 11:45 a.m. EDT. |
| Do You Know? |
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| As NASA prepared to land the first astronauts on the Moon in 1969, the agency first needed to test the Lunar Module — the spacecraft that would allow the crew to land on the Moon’s surface — and the life support system for the Apollo spacesuit that would make the first moonwalks possible. |
| Which mission tested the Apollo Lunar Module & spacesuit systems in space while orbiting Earth? A. Gemini XII B. Apollo 3 C. Apollo 9 D. Apollo 10 |
| Find out the answer in next week’s NASA newsletter! |
 | Last week, we asked why Eugene Cernan was unable to test the Astronaut Maneuvering Unit (AMU) during his demanding Gemini IX‑A spacewalk. The answer? His visor fogging and high exertion made it unsafe to proceed. The rigidity of Cernan’s spacesuit, the lack of handholds and footholds, and inadequate suit cooling left him exhausted and drenched in sweat early in the spacewalk. That extra moisture caused his visor to fog over, leaving him virtually blind. Mission Control and mission pilot Tom Stafford agreed it was too dangerous for Cernan to continue to the AMU mounted on the back of the spacecraft. Although the test was canceled, the lessons from this challenging spacewalk directly shaped improvements to training and equipment used later in the Gemini and Apollo programs. |
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| In the new citizen science project Galaxy Zoo: Clump Scout II, we’re using powerful new tools — more powerful telescopes and machine learning — to investigate the enigmatic nature of giant star-forming clumps. As the name implies, we know these clumps are related to star formation, but how? In this project, you’ll examine images from the Visible Imager Instrument and the Near‑Infrared Spectrometer and Photometer aboard the Euclid space telescope. Through NASA’s citizen science projects, volunteers help with cutting-edge research in Earth science, planetary science, astrophysics, biological and physical sciences, and heliophysics. With just your phone or computer, you can help NASA expand our understanding of the universe – including life here on Earth. Projects are available in 18+ languages beyond English and open to anyone, regardless of country of origin or citizenship status, and need no special gear, just curiosity and a willingness to learn. JOIN THE PROJECT |
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