From Earth orbit to the Moon and Mars, explore the world of human spaceflight with NASA each week on the official podcast of the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. Listen to in-depth conversations with the astronauts, scientists and engineers who make it possible.
On episode 422, NASA’s Kathleen Karika and Kim Hurst discuss how the Artemis Accords are helping shape a safe, peaceful, and prosperous future for lunar exploration and beyond. This episode was recorded in April 23, 2026.
Transcript
Joseph Zakrzewski
Houston We Have a Podcast. Welcome to the official podcast of the NASA Johnson Space Center Episode 422: The Artemis Accords. I’m Joseph Zakrzewski, and I’ll be your host today. On this podcast, we bring in the experts, scientists, engineers, and astronauts, all to let you know what’s going on in the world of human spaceflight and more.
Humanity has an innate need to explore. For centuries, we have explored our planet, both land and sea. Then we went beyond the planet’s surface to low Earth orbit. And then, just over 50 years ago, we went even further to explore the equatorial region of the moon with the Apollo program. Now the Artemis program is taking us back to the moon to explore the lunar South Pole, this time with international cooperation coupled with guiding principles to help support and sustain exploration, today and into the future. The Artemis Accords were established in 2020 as principles for a safe, peaceful, and prosperous future in space. Under the Accords, we will explore together, guided by the shared commitments.
Joining me today, we have Kathleen Karika, the Administrator’s Senior Advisor for International and Interagency Relations, and Kim Hurst, lead of the Artemis Accords for NASA from the Office of International and Interagency Relations, to tell us all about what that looks like.
Let’s get started.
Joseph Zakrzewski
Kathleen Kim, thank you so much for joining us on Houston We Have a Podcast today to talk all things Artemis Accords. But before we dive i …