Media Update on Status of Artemis I

A press conference is held on Aug. 29, 2022, at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, after waving-off of the launch of the agency’s Artemis I mission. Participants from left, are NASA Press Secretary Jackie McGuiness; Bill Nelson, NASA administrator; Mike Sarafin, Artemis mission manager, NASA Headquarters; and Jim Free, associate administrator for Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate, NASA Headquarters. The first in a series of increasingly complex missions, Artemis I will provide a foundation for human deep space exploration and demonstrate our commitment and capability to extend human presence to the Moon and beyond. The primary goal of Artemis I is to thoroughly test the integrated systems before crewed missions by operating the spacecraft in a deep space environment, testing Orion’s heat shield, and recovering the crew module after reentry, descent, and splashdown.