Moon flight for everyone: NASA publishes photos and data from the Artemis 2 mission
Thousands of recordings, audio tracks, and raw data make the journey around the moon more accessible than ever for those interested. The data archive for the Artemis 2 mission is now freely accessible.
In April 2026, the Moon received a visit from Earth again for the first time in over 50 years: four people flew to our neighbor, located about 400,000 kilometers away, as part of NASA's Artemis 2 mission, orbited it, and landed back on Earth nine days after launch.
The crew took thousands of photos during the mission – and these, along with numerous other mission data, have recently been made available to the public. According to NASA, this also includes 8.5 hours of audio recordings of the crew and their observations.
With this archive, you can retrospectively embark on the journey to the Moon yourself and get an impression of the observations that only a few people have been able to experience with their own eyes so far. NASA has prepared some special impressions with explanations and audio recordings of the crew's communication on this website.
You can find the complete data archives here. The dated appearance of the website, with its bulky labels and multitude of links, can be off-putting, so I recommend starting with the browser-based Image Viewer. There, you can scroll through thousands of thumbnails to quickly get an overview. Additionally, the selection can be refined using filters.
Among the photos are numerous views of Earth and the Moon from various distances. Some also show the interior of the Orion space capsule, which brought the four-person team from North America to the Moon and back.
First the Moon, then Mars
After the last manned Moon landing for the time being took place in 1972, the Earth's satellite faded into the background for NASA for decades. However, the Apollo program laid the foundations upon which space travel is still built today. One of the people behind this technological milestone is the recently deceased software pioneer Margaret Hamilton, whose work is honored by colleague Luca in his obituary.
With the Artemis program, the Moon is now back in the spotlight. NASA wants to bring humans to its surface again and, in the long term, even establish a permanent settlement.
To this end, critical life support systems and radiation protection equipment, among other things, were tested under real conditions during Artemis 2. The crew, led by US commander Reid Wiseman, differed significantly from the Apollo crews of the 20th century: with Victor Glover and Christina Koch, an African American and a woman flew to the Moon for the first time, as did the first non-American, the Canadian Jeremy Hansen.
The next landing on the Moon is planned for early 2028 with Artemis 4. The lunar settlement aimed for thereafter is intended to be partially self-sufficient and, for example, process the ice present on the Moon into drinking water, oxygen, and hydrogen fuel. To achieve this goal, the agency is working with international partners, such as the European Space Agency (ESA). In the long term, the Moon is intended to serve as a test field and base for manned flights to Mars.
Feels just as comfortable in front of a gaming PC as she does in a hammock in the garden. Likes the Roman Empire, container ships and science fiction books. Focuses mostly on unearthing news stories about IT and smart products.
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