The morning opened to the beat of “Working Class Heroes (Work)” by CeeLo Green as the Artemis II crew, now flying about 65,235 miles from the Moon, began preparations for their first test objective of the day: an evaluation of the Orion Crew Survival System suit. The crew also heard a special message from Apollo astronaut Charlie Duke.

John Young and I landed on the Moon in 1972 in a lunar module we named Orion. I’m glad to see a different kind of Orion helping return humans to the Moon as America charts the course to the lunar surface. Below you on the Moon is a photo of my family. I pray it reminds you that we and America and all of the world are cheering you on.

Charlie duke

Apollo 16 Astronaut

NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch, along with CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut Jeremy Hansen, will conduct a full sequence of suit operations, including putting on and pressurizing their suits, performing leak checks, simulating seat entry, and assessing mobility and their ability to eat and drink. 

The suits are designed to protect astronauts during dynamic phases of flight, provide life support in the event of cabin depressurization, and support survival operations after splashdown. The demonstration offers insight into how the suit performs during extended wear in microgravity and how its enhanced mobility, thermal management, and communication systems support crew operations during Artemis missions. 

Later today, the crew will perform an outbound trajectory correction burn, receive their final lunar science targets, and enter the Moon’s gravitational sphere of influence. Mission managers and NASA science experts also will hold a daily mission status briefing at 5:30 p.m. on the agency’s YouTube channel.  

View the latest imagery from the Artemis II mission on our Artemis II Multimedia Resource Page. Please follow @NASAArtemis on X, Facebook, and Instagram for real-time updates. Live mission coverage is available on NASA’s YouTube channel.