JPL Will Handle Communications on Wednesday’s Lunar Mission

Pasadena’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) will have a part to play when the first crewed lunar mission in more than 50 years launches today.

Once NASA;s Artemis II departs Earth orbit, communications will be handled in part by NASA’s Deep Space Network, which is managed by JPL.

The 10-day mission around the moon is set to lift off at 3:24 p.m. Wednesday from Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

The mission is part of NASA’s Artemis program, which aims to return humans to the moon for the first time since the Apollo era and eventually establish a sustained presence there.

The spacecraft will not land on the moon but will travel thousands of miles beyond it, providing astronauts with views of the lunar far side before returning to Earth.

“The Artemis II crew represents thousands of people working tirelessly to bring us to the stars. This is their crew, this is our crew, this is humanity’s crew,” then-NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said in 2023 when announcing the team.

“NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Hammock Koch, and CSA astronaut Jeremy Hansen, each has their own story, but, together, they represent our creed: E pluribus unum — out of many, one. Together, we are ushering in a new era of exploration for a new generation of star sailors and dreamers — the Artemis Generation.”