Santa Claus (NASA Engineer Guy Naylor) poses with NASA’s Artemis II Orion spacecraft and SLS (Space Launch System) rocket in the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Dec. 11, 2025. The Orion spacecraft was placed atop the SLS in October 2025.
Set to launch in early 2026, the Artemis II test flight will be NASA’s first mission with a crew under Artemis. In their first flight on Orion, the astronauts will confirm that all of the spacecraft’s systems are as designed with a crew in the real environment of deep space. Through the Artemis mission, NASA will send astronauts to explore the Moon for scientific discovery, economic benefit, and lay the foundation for the first crewed mission to Mars – for the benefit of everyone.
Image credit: NASA/Adeline Morgan
