Episode description:Liftoff! NASA’s Artemis II mission launched on April 1, 2026, carrying four Moonbound astronauts. After an approximately 10-day mission, Artemis II ends with a splash. Lili Villarreal, the recovery and landing director for Artemis II, leads the team that will bring home the astronauts and their spacecraft. She describes the recovery playbook, which includes many contingency plans, and the rehearsals that have prepared her team for the mission.
For Artemis II news and the latest launch information, visit nasa.gov/artemis-ii
PADI BOYD: You’re listening to NASA’s Curious Universe. I’m Padi Boyd.
JACOB PINTER: And I’m Jacob Pinter. NASA is headed to the Moon!
DERROL NAIL (NASA Communications): … and liftoff! The crew of Artemis II now bound for the Moon. Humanity’s next great voyage begins.
PADI: As this episode comes out, four astronauts are in space on a test flight.
Mission Control: Integrity, GPS Processing.
REID WISEMAN: Outstanding, Stan. We see the same and we have a beautiful Moonrise. We’re headed right at it.
PADI: Their mission is called Artemis II. They will fly around the Moon and set the stage for future Artemis missions when astronauts return to the Moon’s surface.
VICTOR GLOVER: We are going for our families.
CHRISTINA KOCH: We are going for our teammates.
JEREMY HANSEN: We are going for all humanity.
REID WISEMAN: All right Charlie, your Artemis II crew is go for launch. Full send.
PADI: Artemis will also build upon the foundation we’ve laid and prepare us for the first human journey to Mars.
[Music: Supercluster by Sergey Azbel]
JACOB: On previous episodes of Curious Universe, we have introduced you to the astronauts and to some of the many people who make this mission possible. We have a lot more to come. Throughout the mission and after it ends, we will bring you NASA’s official coverage. You’ll hear highlights from launch, milestones as the astronauts check out their spacecraft, and details of the astronauts’ flight around the Moon.
PADI: In this episode: get to know the team that will meet the astronauts when they return to Earth. After an approximately 10-day voyage, Artemis II will end when it splashes down in the Pacific Ocean and a ship picks up the astronauts and their spacecraft.
So how do …