JPL and Caltech Steer NASA’s Artemis II Mission Toward the Moon

As NASA’s Artemis II lunar mission targets a 3:24 p.m. liftoff today from Launch Complex 39B at Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the critical technology and leadership guiding the four astronauts around the Moon have deep roots right here in Pasadena.

The historic 10-day mission, marking the first crewed mission to the Moon’s vicinity since Apollo 17 in 1972, relies heavily on the expertise of Jet Propulsion Laboratory and its managing institution, the California Institute of Technology.

From maintaining vital communications across the cosmos to ensuring the crew’s safety against solar radiation, Pasadena’s scientific community is playing an indispensable role in returning humanity to deep space.

The Lifeline to Earth: Deep Space Network

Once the Orion spacecraft leaves Earth’s orbit and fires its engines for the Moon, primary communications support will shift to the Deep Space Network (DSN), which is managed by JPL from here in Pasadena.

The DSN, an international array of giant radio antennas located in California, Spain, and Australia, will provide the critical communications link between the Artemis II crew and ground controllers in Houston.

“Reliable communications are the lifeline of human spaceflight,” said Kevin Coggins, deputy associate administrator for the SCaN Program at NASA Headquarters, in a January 2026 agency news release. “Our networks help make missions like Artemis II possible and set the stage for even more ambitious space exploration in the years ahead.”

The network will handle all data exchange, including voice communications, navigation telemetry, and the transmission of images and video. The mission will also test the Orion Artemis II Optical Communications System (O2O), a laser communications terminal designed to transmit real science and crew data over laser links at unprecedented speeds.

Solar Monitoring and Crew Safety

Beyond communications, JPL’s technology is actively protecting the Artemis II crew—NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen—from the unpredictable dangers of space weather.

NASA is utilizing the JPL-managed Perseverance rover, currently stationed on Mars, to monitor the Sun. Because Mars is currently positioned on the opposite side of the Sun from Earth, the rover’s Mastcam-Z cameras can observe sunspots and potential solar flares up to two weeks before they rotate into Earth’s view. This early warning system gives space weather analysts critical time to advise the Artemis II crew to take shelter inside the Orion capsule if a solar storm erupts.

Additionally, JPL provided independent validation for Orion’s thermal protection system and parachutes, ensuring the spacecraft’s heat shield can withstand the extreme temperatures of atmospheric reentry at speeds of roughly 25,000 miles per hour.

Caltech Leadership and Oversight

The institutional foundation supporting JPL’s contributions is Caltech, which operates the laboratory under a long-standing contract with NASA.

Caltech alumni are also holding pivotal leadership roles in the Artemis program. Amit Kshatriya, who holds a bachelor of science in mathematics from Caltech, serves as NASA’s associate administrator. He previously served as the deputy associate administrator for the Moon to Mars Program, where he was responsible for the planning and implementation of human missions to the Moon and Mars, serving as the single point of focus for risk management.

Furthermore, Caltech faculty and alumni, including astronaut candidate Lauren Edgar, have contributed significantly to defining the scientific goals and geological activities for the upcoming Artemis III lunar landing mission, continuing a legacy of lunar research that dates back to the Apollo era.

As the Space Launch System rocket prepares to ignite today, the eyes of the world will be on Florida, but much of the technical heartbeat of the Artemis II mission will be pulsing steadily from Pasadena.