NASA releases full science dataset and reports from crewed Artemis II flight

NASA has released the complete scientific record and preliminary science report from the crewed Artemis II flyby mission, Universe Today reported. The data collected by the four-person crew is now available to both the public and scientific researchers. According to Nature World News, the full dataset confirms that the astronauts witnessed rocks striking the surface of the Moon with their own eyes during the flight. [1][3]

The mission began on April 1, 2026, when the Space Launch System rocket launched the Orion spacecraft, named Integrity, into space, Universe Today reported. Roughly three and a half hours after launch, the rocket first stage separated from Orion. Astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Jeremy Hansen then completed a nearly ten-day journey around the Moon using a free-return trajectory. [1][6][7]

During the flight, the crew assembled a scientific record consisting of photographs, voice recordings, sketches, and notes, Universe Today reported. Live Science and UA.NEWS both reported that the new 130-page NASA report details observations made by the astronauts, including strange yellow and green swamp-like colors on the lunar surface. [1][2][4]

Artemis II was the first crewed flight of the Artemis program and the first crewed mission beyond low Earth orbit since Apollo 17 in 1972. The crew included Wiseman as commander, Glover as pilot, and Koch and Hansen as mission specialists representing NASA and the Canadian Space Agency. It was the first crewed flight of both the Space Launch System and the Orion spacecraft. [6][7]