NASA’s Artemis II mission to fly by the moon, comprising of the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket with the Orion crew capsule, lifts off from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, U.S. April 1, 2026. REUTERS

Modern space exploration is driven as much by processors as it is by rockets. And it remains the ultimate test of our collective ingenuity.

The space agency is targeting Wednesday, April 1, to launch a crew of four astronauts on a potentially record-breaking journey around the moon and back The U.S. space agency’s Skyfall project calls for sending robotic helicopters to Mars on a nuclear-powered spacecraft before the end of Donald Trump’s presidency

Former NASA chief of staff Bale Dalton talks about the work that went into the Artemis mission plan and what to watch for on the journey.

Professor Damennick Henry at the University of Minnesota hopes NASA's Artemis II mission will help pave the way for future space exploration and a more permanent presence for the United States on the moon.

NASA now believes there could be hundreds of billions of gallons of water on the moon. According to one theory a collision 4.5 billion years ago between the early Earth and a Mars-sized planet called Theia spun off the Moon and deposited large amounts of water. That is likely have been topped up by water-bearing asteroids and meteors.

NASA may not be able to move forward three planned Venus missions as budget pressures force difficult trade-offs across its planetary science portfolio.

Omega’s Speedmaster has long been Nasa’s go-to, but other space programmes are exploring partnerships with the likes of IWC Schaffhausen, Fortis and Barrelhand.

As NASA prepares for its Artemis II mission, a Central Florida man who helped make the first moon landing possible is reflecting on decades of progress in space exploration.