New NASA Artemis II Moon Crew Photos

New NASA Artemis II Moon Crew Photos

NASA astronaut Christina Koch smiles at the camera as she holds a pipette and saliva booklet for the Artemis II Immune Biomarkers study. Samples will be analyzed for proteins, enzymes, and other biomarkers that monitor immunity, inflammation, nutritional status, bone health, and radiation effects, to determine how crewmembers adapted to deep spaceflight conditions.

NASA astronaut Reid Wiseman holds a sample booklet as he prepares to collect a saliva sample aboard the Orion spacecraft. 

NASA astronaut Victor Glover shows off the sample bag for the Immune Biomarkers study aboard the Orion spacecraft. During the Artemis II mission, the crew collected saliva samples for this study. Samples will be analyzed for proteins, enzymes, and other biomarkers that monitor immunity, inflammation, nutritional status, bone health, and radiation effects, to determine how crewmembers adapted to deep spaceflight conditions.

Artemis II emblem

During the nearly 10-day Artemis II Moon Mission, crew members blotted saliva samples on special paper for the Immune Biomarkers study. On Earth, scientists are analyzing those samples, looking at proteins, enzymes, and other biomarkers to understand how the crew adapted to deep space conditions aboard Orion. These biomarkers give insight into crews' immune health, inflammation, nutritional status, bone health, and more. 

The Orion spacecraft successfully splashed down on Friday, April 10, 2026, in the Pacific Ocean following its journey around the Moon, carrying NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch, and Canadian Space Agency (CSA) astronaut Jeremy Hansen.

Under Artemis, NASA will send astronauts on increasingly difficult missions to explore more of the Moon for scientific discovery, economic benefits, and to build on our foundation for the first crewed missions to Mars.

The first crewed test flight of NASA’s Artemis program lifted off from Launch Pad 39B at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on April 1, 2026, carrying the first astronauts to travel to the Moon in more than half a century. 

The crew completed a record-setting lunar flyby, taking them 252,756 miles at their farthest distance from Earth and 4,067 miles above the lunar surface at their closest approach. 

Learn more about NASA's Artemis II Mission:
https://www.nasa.gov/mission/artemis-ii/

Image Credit: NASA

Date: April 8, 2026

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