NASA's Artemis II Moon Crew Attends Events in Washington & Houston

NASA's Artemis II Moon Crew Attends Events in Washington & Houston

NASA astronauts Victor Glover, pilot; left, Reid Wiseman, commander; Christina Koch, mission specialist; and Canadian Space Agency (CSA) astronaut Jeremy Hansen, mission specialist, right, participate in a panel discussion with Mickey Smith Jr., America’s Educator and Motivator, center, during the Great American State Fair, Saturday, July 4, 2026, on the National Mall in Washington, D.C.

NASA’s Artemis II crew address the crowd alongside Howard Hu, Orion Program Manager, at an Artemis II employee celebration event at the Lunar Receiving Park at NASA's Johnson Space Center.

NASA astronaut Christina Koch, Artemis II mission specialist, participates in a panel discussion during the Great American State Fair, Saturday, July 4, 2026, on the National Mall in Washington, D.C.

NASA astronaut Reid Wiseman takes a selfie with attendees at an Artemis II employee celebration event at NASA's Johnson Space Center.

NASA astronaut Victor Glover high-fives attendees at an Artemis II employee celebration event at NASA's Johnson Space Center.

NASA astronaut Reid Wiseman high-fives attendees at an Artemis II employee celebration event at NASA's Johnson Space Center.

NASA astronaut Reid Wiseman speaks with attendees at an Artemis II employee celebration event at NASA's Johnson Space Center.

NASA astronaut Reid Wiseman high-fives attendees at an Artemis II employee celebration event at NASA's Johnson Space Center.

After NASA's Artemis II Moon crew met with agency employees at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, on June 25, 2026, they spent July 4th at the Great American State Fair, on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. In Houston, they participated in the dedication of the Apollo 14 Moon tree and joined an employee celebration event. The tree is a second-generation Apollo Moon tree of the loblolly pine species. The original Apollo Moon trees were grown from seeds carried aboard Apollo 14 by NASA astronaut Stuart Roosa, a former U.S. Forest Service smoke jumper. Upon return to Earth, the seeds were germinated by the Forest Service, and the resulting seedlings were planted throughout the United States and around the world.

NASA's Artemis II Moon Mission took NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Canadian Space Agency (CSA) astronaut Jeremy Hansen on a nearly 10-day journey around the Moon and back to Earth.

The Orion spacecraft successfully splashed down on Friday, April 10, 2026, in the Pacific Ocean following its journey around the Moon.

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. 

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.

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

Image Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls
Dates: June 25-July 4, 2026

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