Mission serves as first steps to Mars
By Cesar Rivas, April 21, 2026
NASA Artemis II astronauts Reid Wiseman, Pomona native Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen splashed down April 10, at approximately 5:07 p.m. PDT into the Pacific Ocean off the coast of San Diego after a successful 10-day mission in space.
The splashdown drew more than three million viewers on the official NASA livestream alone, while attracting 27 million viewers nationwide, according to MSN. This followed the Artemis II space launch from the Kennedy Space Station in Florida April 1, which attracted more than 18 million viewers, according to Nielsen.
According to NASA, the main objective of the Artemis II mission was to test the Orion spacecraft, as well as the space launch systems, with a crew onboard to prepare for another future moon landing. This was also the first time since the Apollo missions, where NASA completed a lunar flyby.
“Through the Artemis program, you’re reviving the entire infrastructure that we need to go back to the moon and even beyond but with a different purpose,” said Navid Nakhjiri, associate chair and aerospace engineering professor at Cal Poly Pomona. “This time, it’s not just going there and putting a flag on and just walking around a little bit to show that we can. This time, with more strategic thinking, is for a larger scope of missions that are sustainable.”
CPP assistant professor Marco Maggia said the Artemis missions had always been a plan of NASA’s under the George W. Bush administration, as it was called the Constellation Program.
The Constellation Program was short-lived, as it only lasted from 2005 to 2009, but some of the engineering carried over from the program to the present-day Orion.
“The objectives were really the same: to go to the moon and then be beyond, but to have a presence, a continued presence, on the moon,” Maggia said. “So, they started the design of the capsule Orion that is being used now. It really comes from 2005-2006, so that’s, in a sense, a little bit of old engineering. Some things have been revived and redesigned, but mainly the structure is the same.”
Both Maggia and Nakhjiri agreed one of the justifications for delay of such space missions comes down to funding. In comparison to the Apollo program, the Artemis program has only about 10% of the same funding. It also comes down to what the goals of the current political administration are, as the Apollo program was essentially the birth of the space race.
CPP alumni Mike Beckage (’87, engineering technology) and Tim Kippen (’89, engineering technology) played a part within the Artemis II missions, as they co-founded Diversified Technical Systems, a company that manufactures miniature data acquisition systems. The TSR PRO data logger was installed into each astronaut’s seat during launch and re-entry to collect vibration data, according to CPP Engineering.
Next up for the Artemis program is Artemis III, which should launch in 2027. The main objective will be to test the docking ability of the Orion and the spacecraft that would land on the moon. Artemis IV will then follow in 2028 with plans to put astronauts on the moon, according to NASA.
Maggia explained how it will take a lot more than just NASA to have a successful program for the years to come.
“You need another rocket, and that’s most likely going to be a starship by SpaceX, and it will meet with Orion in space,” Maggia said. “Two out of the four astronauts will transfer to the lander. The lander will go back to the moon, land and come back, meet with Orion, and Orion will go back to Earth. So, you need at least two rockets, if not three, because you probably need a third one to refuel in orbit starship.”
It’s not all serious though, as many have seen videos of NASA playing wake-up songs for those aboard the Orion trending on social media. Songs included “Pink Pony Club” by Chappell Roan, “Under Pressure” by Queen, “Lonesome Drifter” by Charley Crockett and more. This has been a NASA tradition dating back to the Apollo program. NASA created a playlist of all 10 songs that were played on Spotifyfor the public to enjoy.
In a time where a sense of togetherness seemed so far apart, both Maggia and Nakhjiri expressed how important the Artemis program is, not only important for space exploration, but for all humanity.
“I think that these kinds of big, complex, risky projects usually bring people together around science and technology, differently than other types of human achievements,” Nakhjiri said. “This is representing humanity going somewhere on behalf of the planet Earth.”
Feature image courtesy of NASA/Joel Kowsky
