NASA's Curious Universe

In 2022, NASA launched Artemis I, an uncrewed test flight of the rocket and spacecraft that will send humans to the Moon. Go inside Firing Room 1—the nerve center for Artemis launches—and hear from the engineers who launched Artemis I, including the intricate procedures they developed just to fuel the rocket correctly. Now NASA is ready to launch Artemis II—and to send humans around the Moon.  

For Artemis II news and the latest launch information, visit nasa.gov/artemis-ii

This year, four NASA astronauts will fly around the Moon and back for the first time since the Apollo program. Their mission is called Artemis II. It’s a key test flight that will set the stage for Artemis III, when humans land on the lunar South Pole for the first time and set up a long-term presence there. In this episode, meet your intrepid Artemis II crew: commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover and mission specialists Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen. 

For Artemis II news and the latest launch information, visit nasa.gov/artemis-ii

This year, four NASA astronauts are flying around the Moon and back—and Curious Universe is bringing you along for the ride. The mission is called Artemis II. It’s a key test flight that will set the stage for future missions to land on the lunar South Pole for the first time and set up a long-term presence there. In this limited series, get to know your Artemis II astronaut crew, go behind the scenes at NASA facilities across the country and discover the teamwork, passion and problem-solving fueling humanity’s return to the Moon—and beyond. 

For Artemis II news and the latest launch information, visit nasa.gov/artemis-ii

The James Webb Space Telescope is doing something astronomers dreamed about for decades: peering into our universe’s early past, a period known as cosmic dawn. A new NASA documentary—also called Cosmic Dawn—chronicles the inside story of Webb’s design, construction, and launch. John Mather, who won the 2006 Nobel Prize for Physics, proposed the telescope and led its science team for decades. In this interview, Mather talks about his life, his research, and the pre-dawn phone call telling him he had won the Nobel Prize.

Find more at nasa.gov/cosmicdawn

This episode was updated on Dec. 19, 2025, to provide a video version on platforms that support video.

Have you ever dreamed of spending a day in space? Humans have lived aboard the International Space Station for 25 years—or more than 9,000 consecutive days. In this episode originally published in 2021, experience a day in the life of astronauts Shane Kimbrough, Megan McArthur, and Thomas Pesquet living and working on the International Space Station.