NASA's Artemis 2 moonshot was just the 'opening act' for America's return to the moon, space agency chief says

NASA’s Orion spacecraft captures the Moon and the Earth in one frame during the Artemis II crew’s deep space journey at 6:42 p.m. ET on the sixth day of the mission. The right side of NASA’s Orion spacecraft is seen lit up by the Sun. A waxing crescent Moon is visible behind it. And then, a crescent Earth, tiny compared to the Moon, is about to set below the Moon’s horizon on the right. .

The head of NASA said the agency's historic Artemis 2 moon mission, which sent the first astronauts around the moon in over 50 years, is only the beginning of a new lunar "relay race" that will ultimately lead to a crewed landing and moon base in the years ahead.

The U.S. space agency chief Jared Isaacman laid out what NASA is trying to make happen after the Artemis 2 mission, which concluded with a safe splashdown on Friday (April 10), in a livestreamed speech and discussion today (April 14) addressing attendees at the 2026 Space Symposium in Colorado Springs, Colorado.