NASA seeks volunteers to track Artemis II space missionChris Benson
UPIWed, August 27, 2025 at 5:16 PM EDT
2 min read
The Launch Vehicle Stage Adapter (LVSA) seen in March rolling from the Vehicle Assembly Building at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The adapter will be placed onto the Space Launch System Core Booster for Artemis II, NASA's first crewed moon mission. On Wednesday, NASA put out a public ask seeking interested volunteers to help track its space mission. File Photo by Joe Marino/UPI
Aug. 27 (UPI) -- NASA said it's seeking volunteers to help track its Artemis II Orion spacecraft as the crewed mission travels to the moon and back.
"By offering this opportunity to the broader aerospace community, we can identify available tracking capabilities outside the government," Kevin Coggins, NASA's deputy associate administrator for SCaN at NASA headquarters in Washington, said in a statement.
NASA will send astronauts to explore the moon via Artemis for scientific discovery, economic benefits and ultimately to build the foundation for the first crewed missions to Mars, according to the nation's space agency.
The Artemis II test flight will be a space launch of the agency's Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft targeted for no later than April 2026.
It will send NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch on an approximately 10-day mission around the moon along with their colleague from the Canadian Space Agency, astronaut Jeremy Hansen.
On Wednesday, Coggins added that data NASA receives will help "inform our transition to a commercial-first approach, ultimately strengthening the infrastructure needed to support Artemis missions and our long-term moon to Mars objectives."
NASA officials added that the chance to further expand its collaboration with the public in this way builds on a past request by NASA's Space Communication and Navigation Program.
According to NASA, in 2022 about 10 volunteers successfully tracked an uncrewed Orion spacecraft on its orbital journey thousands of miles beyond the moon and then back to home to Earth.
The public request for volunteers to aid in the Artemis mission arrived after NASA this month unveiled its last piece of hardware for the Artemis II Orion mission.
Meanwhile, volunteer respondents are due by 5 p.m. EDT on Monday, Oct. 27.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/nasa-seeks-volunteers-track-artemis-211611258.html
