PU 31: NASA’s Artemis II Mission

Mission Specialist Christina Koch looks out of a window on Integrity back at Earth after the successful launch of Artemis II (NASA)

Depending who you ask, NASA’s new mission to the moon was either the scientific breakthrough of the century or an utterly boring waste of money. Which is it?

Punching Upwards, Episode 31 for 12 April 2026

Topics: Science / Space

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Some of the photos taken by the Artemis II crew (images courtesy of NASA):

The astronauts back on Earth (images courtesy of NASA):

NASA photo galleries:

• Artemis II Launch

• Artemis II Journey to the Moon

• Artemis II Lunar Flyby

• Artemis II Return to Earth

• Artemis II Splashdown and Return

Credits

Thanks to Michael Mullan-Jensen, Fadi Mansour, Evgeny Kuznetsov, Vlad A Gouf, Bennet Piater and Sir Galteran for supporting this podcast financially and therefore making it possible for me to produce it!

See Also

• Kerbal Space Program

• The Expanse: novels, TV series

Sources

1. Liftoff! NASA astronauts have launched on a historic journey to the moon, NPR, 1 April 2026

2. Outlook in space, Marcus House (tweet), 2 April 2026

3. Moon Joy, Courtesy of NASA’s Artemis II Astronauts, NASA, 10 April 2026

4. Artemis II reentry, splashdown & recovery, CNN, 11 April 2026

5. Artemis II Reference Guide, NASA, undated

6. Orion Reference Guide, NASA, undated

7. Development of the European Service Module Propulsion Subsytem for the Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle, Barsi et al., 25 September 2017

8. Lunar Trajectory Geometry, Bellcom Inc., 23 December 1969

The theme music for the podcast is a track called Fight or Fall by Def Lev. Find out more about the show at fab.industries/podcast — new media, new rules!