Moon Visualizations, Animations, Videos - Artemis II Lunar Science

While the Artemis II crew will be the first humans to test NASA’s Orion spacecraft in space, they will also conduct science investigations that will inform future deep space missions. During the 10-day past the Moon and back, the Orion capsule will fly by the far side of the Moon — the side that always faces away from Earth. During this three-hour period, astronauts will analyze and photograph geologic features, such as impact craters and ancient lava flows. They will rely on the extensive geology training they received in the classroom and in Moon-like places on Earth to describe nuances in shapes, textures, and colors — the type of information that reveals the geologic history of an area. These skills will be critical to exploring the Moon’s South Pole region through future missions.

Learn more about Artemis II lunar science.
Learn more about all Artemis II science experiments
Learn more about the Moon at science.nasa.gov/moon.

Note: This page will be continually updated through the Artemis II mission.

Media Contact: Lonnie Shekhtman NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.

• 👁 Watch this video on the NASA Goddard YouTube channel.Music is "Lunar Thistle" by Lucie Rose of Universal Production Music.
  

  ID: 14952 Produced Video

  How Astronauts will Observe the Moon with Artemis II

  January 13, 2026

  Watch this video on the NASA Goddard YouTube channel.Music is "Lunar Thistle" by Lucie Rose of Universal Production Music. || 14952_thumbnail.jpg (1920x1080) [266.4 KB] || 14952_thumbnail_print.jpg (1024x576) [145.2 KB] || 14952_thumbnail_searchweb.png (320x180) [82.7 KB] || 14952_thumbnail_thm.png (80x40) [7.1 KB] || MARIE_HENDERSON_YT_CAPTION.en_US.srt [4.0 KB] || MARIE_HENDERSON_YT_CAPTION.en_US.vtt [3.8 KB] || 14952_ArtemisII_MarieHenderson_YT.mp4 (3840x2160) [853.4 MB] ||

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• 👁 Artemis II visualization lead Ernie Wright explains how his data-driven animations are helping astronauts to prepare for a historic flyby of the Moon.Complete transcript available.Universal Production Music: “Black Cloud” and “Magic Trick” by Hugo Dubery [SACEM] and Philippe Galtier [SACEM]; “Connecting Ideas” by Christopher Timothy White [PRS]; “Transitions” by Ben Niblett [PRS] and Jon Cotton [PRS]Watch this video on the NASA Goddard YouTube channel and Facebook.
  

  ID: 14938 Visualization

  Artemis Science: Visualizing NASA’s Next Lunar Flyby

  December 22, 2025

  Artemis II visualization lead Ernie Wright explains how his data-driven animations are helping astronauts to prepare for a historic flyby of the Moon.Complete transcript available.Universal Production Music: “Black Cloud” and “Magic Trick” by Hugo Dubery [SACEM] and Philippe Galtier [SACEM]; “Connecting Ideas” by Christopher Timothy White [PRS]; “Transitions” by Ben Niblett [PRS] and Jon Cotton [PRS]Watch this video on the NASA Goddard YouTube channel and Facebook. || Artemis-Sci-Wright-A2Sim-Thumbnail_print.jpg (1024x576) [102.1 KB] || Artemis-Sci-Wright-A2Sim-Thumbnail.jpg (1920x1080) [533.4 KB] || Artemis-Sci-Wright-A2Sim-Thumbnail.png (1920x1080) [1.2 MB] || Artemis-Sci-Wright-A2Sim-Thumbnail_searchweb.png (320x180) [64.7 KB] || Artemis-Sci-Wright-A2Sim-Thumbnail_thm.png (80x40) [6.2 KB] || 14938_Artemis_Sci_Wright_A2Sim_720.mp4 (1280x720) [93.2 MB] || 14938_Artemis_Sci_Wright_A2Sim_1080.mp4 (1920x1080) [520.8 MB] || ArtemisSciWrightA2SimCaptions.en_US.srt [9.1 KB] || ArtemisSciWrightA2SimCaptions.en_US.vtt [8.7 KB] || 14938_Artemis_Sci_Wright_A2Sim_4K.mp4 (3840x2160) [3.2 GB] || 14938_Artemis_Sci_Wright_A2Sim_ProRes.mov (3840x2160) [20.2 GB] ||

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• 👁 Team members from NASA’s Artemis missions plant a tree grown from a seed that traveled beyond the Moon and back to Earth.Complete transcript available.Universal Production Music: “Positive Progression” by Harry Gregson Williams [BMI] and Ben Andrew [PRS]; “Timeless” by Joshua Benjamin Pacey [PRS] and Harry Gregson Williams [BMI]Watch this video on the NASA Goddard YouTube channel, X, Facebook, and LinkedIn.
  

  ID: 14929 Produced Video

  Planting an Artemis I Moon Tree

  November 20, 2025

  Team members from NASA’s Artemis missions plant a tree grown from a seed that traveled beyond the Moon and back to Earth.Complete transcript available.Universal Production Music: “Positive Progression” by Harry Gregson Williams [BMI] and Ben Andrew [PRS]; “Timeless” by Joshua Benjamin Pacey [PRS] and Harry Gregson Williams [BMI]Watch this video on the NASA Goddard YouTube channel, X, Facebook, and LinkedIn. || A1-Moon-Tree-Planting-Thumbnail_print.jpg (1024x576) [203.3 KB] || A1-Moon-Tree-Planting-Thumbnail.jpg (1920x1080) [1.1 MB] || A1-Moon-Tree-Planting-Thumbnail.png (1920x1080) [2.6 MB] || A1-Moon-Tree-Planting-Thumbnail_searchweb.png (320x180) [99.4 KB] || A1-Moon-Tree-Planting-Thumbnail_thm.png (80x40) [7.2 KB] || 14929_A1_Moon_Tree_Planting_720.mp4 (1280x720) [25.8 MB] || 14929_A1_Moon_Tree_Planting_1080.mp4 (1920x1080) [143.2 MB] || MoonTreePlantingCaptions.en_US.srt [2.3 KB] || MoonTreePlantingCaptions.en_US.vtt [2.2 KB] || 14929_A1_Moon_Tree_Planting_4K.mp4 (3840x2160) [955.0 MB] || 14929_A1_Moon_Tree_Planting_ProRes.mov (3840x2160) [5.9 GB] ||

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• 👁 By sending astronauts to collect samples from the Moon’s South Pole, NASA’s Artemis missions may uncover clues to the formation of the solar system.Complete transcript available.Universal Production Music: “Transitions” by Harry Gregson Williams [BMI] and Ben Andrew [PRS]; “Love on the Moon” by Sebastian Barnaby Robertson [BMI] and Yaacov Kobi Hokima [BMI]Watch this video on the NASA Goddard YouTube channel.
  

  ID: 14886 Produced Video

  Artemis Science: Exploring the Moon’s South Pole

  August 22, 2025

  By sending astronauts to collect samples from the Moon’s South Pole, NASA’s Artemis missions may uncover clues to the formation of the solar system.Complete transcript available.Universal Production Music: “Transitions” by Harry Gregson Williams [BMI] and Ben Andrew [PRS]; “Love on the Moon” by Sebastian Barnaby Robertson [BMI] and Yaacov Kobi Hokima [BMI]Watch this video on the NASA Goddard YouTube channel. || Artemis_Sci_Young_S_Pole_Preview_print.jpg (1024x576) [139.2 KB] || Artemis_Sci_Young_S_Pole_Preview.jpg (1920x1080) [721.6 KB] || Artemis_Sci_Young_S_Pole_Preview.png (1920x1080) [1.5 MB] || Artemis_Sci_Young_S_Pole_Preview_searchweb.png (320x180) [84.1 KB] || Artemis_Sci_Young_S_Pole_Preview_thm.png (80x40) [6.7 KB] || 14886_Artemis_Sci_Young_SPole_720.mp4 (1280x720) [37.3 MB] || 14886_Artemis_Sci_Young_SPole_1080.mp4 (1920x1080) [208.1 MB] || ArtemisSciYoungSPoleCaptions.en_US.srt [4.0 KB] || ArtemisSciYoungSPoleCaptions.en_US.vtt [3.8 KB] || 14886_Artemis_Sci_Young_SPole_4K.mp4 (3840x2160) [1.3 GB] || 14886_Artemis_Sci_Young_SPole_ProRes.mov (3840x2160) [7.4 GB] ||

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• 👁 Animation of the Moon’s near side in a waning gibbous phase and its far side in the opposite phase (waxing crescent).
  

  ID: 14992 Animation

  Lunar Near and Far Side Phases

  March 24, 2026

  These animations illustrate opposite lunar phases on the near and far sides of the Moon.

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• 👁 Animation of the Artemis II flight path to the Moon and back.
  

  ID: 20412 Animation

  Artemis II Flight Path Animations

  January 21, 2026

  Animated Flight Path of Artemis II and comparison with NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter and the Apollo mission orbits.

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• 👁 Image of a 3D Moon model in an animated scene file.
  

  ID: 14959 Interactive

  Moon 3D Models for Web, AR, and Animation

  January 29, 2026

  These models of the Moon are made with imagery and topographic data from NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, which has been studying and mapping the lunar surface since 2009. The models are intended for use in web interactives, augmented reality (AR) applications, and animations. ||

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• 👁 LRO Beauty Shot
  

  ID: 20369 Animation

  LRO Beauty Shots

  October 26, 2022

  LRO Beauty Shot || LRO_cam2_4k_30fps_ProRes.00450_print.jpg (1024x432) [53.8 KB] || LRO_cam2_1080p_30fps_h264.mov (1920x812) [23.6 MB] || LRO_cam2_1080pwide_30fps_h264.mov (1920x812) [22.9 MB] || LRO_cam2_4k_30fps_ProRes.mov (5120x2160) [1.3 GB] || LRO_cam2_4k_30fps_h264.mp4 (5120x2160) [24.5 MB] || LRO_cam2_wide_30fps_ProRes.mov (5120x2160) [1.8 GB] || LRO_cam2_wide_30fps_h264.mp4 (5120x2160) [24.6 MB] || LRO_cam2_4k (3840x2160) [32.0 KB] || LRO_cam2_Wide (5120x2160) [32.0 KB] || LRO_cam2_4k_30fps_ProRes.webm (3840x2160) [5.2 MB] ||

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• 👁 Water is released from the moon during meteor showers, when micrometeoroid impacts breach the dry lunar surface and eject water molecules from a hydrated layer below.
  

  ID: 20278 Animation

  Water Released from Moon During Meteor Showers: Animations

  April 15, 2019

  Scientists have discovered that water is being released from the moon during meteor showers. When a speck of comet debris strikes the moon it vaporizes on impact, creating a shock wave in the lunar soil. For a sufficiently large impactor, this shock wave can breach the soil’s dry upper layer and release water molecules from a hydrated layer below. The LADEE spacecraft detects these water molecules as they enter the tenuous lunar atmosphere. ||

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• 👁 LADEE over the lunar surface with LLCD instrument
  

  ID: 20202 Animation

  LADEE Spacecraft Animations

  February 7, 2014

  LADEE over the lunar surface with LLCD instrument || lade084400852_print.jpg (1024x576) [66.1 KB] || lade0844_web.png (320x180) [33.9 KB] || lade0844_thm.png (80x40) [3.3 KB] || Ladee-Earthrise (1280x720) [0 Item(s)] || Ladee-Earthrise8.webmhd.webm (960x540) [8.5 MB] || Ladee-Earthrise8.mov (1280x720) [353.2 MB] ||

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• 👁 Nominal trajectory of NASA’s Artemis II mission, from Earth orbit around the Moon and back to Earth. The view starts close to Earth. A red dot and trail appears representing the path of Artemis II, which extends out in the direction of the Moon, before looping back and returning to Earth.
  

  ID: 5610
  Visualization

  Nominal (reference) Artemis II mission trajectory

• 👁 The virtual camera in this visualization follows a possible trajectory for the Orion spacecraft during the Artemis II mission, showing what astronauts might see out the window as they approach the Moon and fly around its far side.
  

  ID: 5536
  Visualization

  Simulated Artemis II Lunar Flyby

• 👁 A map of the Moon showing the sunlit parts of the lunar surface that the Apollo astronauts could see from orbit.
  

  ID: 5535
  Visualization

  What Apollo Saw in Sunlight While in Orbit

• 👁 A large rendering of the Moon is in the center, showing its phase and libration. Crater labels near the terminator appear and fade out as the terminator moves across the Moon's face. In the upper left is a diagram of the Moon's position in its orbit around Earth. In the lower left is a diagram indicating the subsolar and sub-Earth points and the position angle of the north pole axis. In the lower right is text displaying the time and the Moon's position and orientation. Through the center and behind the Moon is a diagram showing the Earth-Moon distance to scale.
  

  ID: 5587
  Visualization

  Moon Phase and Libration, 2026

• 👁 A large rendering of the Moon is in the center, showing its phase and libration. In the upper left is a diagram of the Moon's position in its orbit around Earth. In the lower left is a diagram indicating the subsolar and sub-Earth points and the position angle of the north pole axis. In the lower right is text displaying the time and the Moon's position and orientation. Through the center and behind the Moon is a diagram showing the Earth-Moon distance to scale.
  

  ID: 5588
  Visualization

  Moon Phase and Libration, 2026 South Up

• 👁 An animation of the Moon's seasons. The left half of the frame shows the 1.5° tilt of the Moon's axis (light blue) relative to the Sun. The right half shows the seasonal change in lighting at the Moon's South Pole.
  

  ID: 5229
  Visualization

  Moon Essentials: Seasons

• 👁 An animated view of the Earth and Sun as seen from near the Moon's South Pole.
  

  ID: 5228
  Visualization

  Lunar South Pole Illumination with Earth and Sun

• 👁 The camera flies toward and then around the Moon's South Pole as the natural surface color changes to colors that encode elevation. Thirty features at the South Pole are identified.
  

  ID: 5127
  Visualization

  Lunar South Pole Terrain in Coded Color

• 👁 A view of the mountain with the Earth on the horizon. At the Moon's south pole, the south pole of the Earth is up.
  

  ID: 5074
  Visualization

  Mons Mouton, a Newly Named Lunar Mountain

• 👁 The path of the Sun in the lunar sky is shown at four latitudes, including the South Pole. An arrow points toward the Sun. Annotations include the subsolar longitude and the elapsed time in Earth days.
  

  ID: 5038
  Visualization

  The Sun's Path at Different Lunar Latitudes

• 👁 2025: Sunlight and shadow within 10 degrees of the lunar South Pole, rendered at two-hour intervals for a year.
  

  ID: 5027
  Visualization

  Illumination at the Moon's South Pole to 80°S, 2025 to 2028

• 👁 In this visualization rendered using Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter data, the view moves from a full disk image of a waning gibbous Moon to a close view of the South Pole, eventually revealing 13 candidate landing regions for the Artemis III mission.
  

  ID: 5013
  Visualization

  Artemis III Landing Region Candidates

• 👁 The camera flies from the east to the Apollo 16 landing site, then flies north to North Ray crater. This is the as-rendered visualization.
  

  ID: 4989
  Visualization

  Apollo 16 Lands in the Lunar Highlands

• 👁 Visualization of the precise location of the lunar South Pole in the Moon Mean Earth coordinate system. Includes narration and music. Presented in both horizontal (landscape) and vertical (portrait) aspect ratios.Music provided by Universal Production Music: Unmatched Skills – John K Sands, Marc Ferrari, Michael A TremanteThis video can also be viewed on the NASA Goddard YouTube channel.
  

  ID: 4969
  Visualization

  Pinpointing the Moon's South Pole

• 👁 An animated view of the Sun and the Earth as seen from the Moon's South Pole, narrated by the visualizer.Music Provided by Universal Production Music: “Enduring Faith” – Frederik WiedmannThis video can also be viewed on the NASA Goddard YouTube channel.
  

  ID: 4944
  Visualization

  Earth and Sun from the Moon's South Pole

• 👁 2023: Sunlight and shadow within 2 degrees of the lunar South Pole, rendered at two-hour intervals for a year.
  

  ID: 4930
  Visualization

  Illumination at the Moon's South Pole, 2023 to 2030

• 👁 Visualization only (No audio, no icons)
  

  ID: 4893
  Visualization

  Shadows near the Moon's South Pole

• 👁 Beginning on the near side of the Moon, with the Apollo sites marked, the view quickly moves to the South Pole and zooms in to show the changing illumination conditions there for an entire year.
  

  ID: 4770
  Visualization

  From Apollo Sites To The South Pole

• 👁 The 2025 color map, available as a full-size float16 EXR file and as 16-bit TIFFs of various sizes. The EXR file is encoded in linear color with slightly more dynamic range, while the sRGB-encoded TIFFs are more broadly supported. The map is centered on 0° longitude.
  

  ID: 4720
  Visualization

  CGI Moon Kit

• 👁 The camera flies over the lunar terrain, coming in for close looks at a variety of interesting sites and some of the LRO data associated with them. Includes feature titles, research sources, and the location and scale of the image center.
  

  ID: 4619
  Visualization

  Tour of the Moon 4K Redux

• 👁 A view of the south pole of the Moon showing where reflectance and temperature data indicate the possible presence of surface water ice. This is the source visualization, without titles or sound.
  

  ID: 4574
  Visualization

  Temperature, Reflectance Point to Frost near the Moon's Poles

• 👁 We follow LRO to the south pole and watch as the LEND instrument integrates neutron counts over the three years from July 2009 to June 2012.This video is also available on our YouTube channel.
  

  ID: 4057
  Visualization

  LEND Looks for Water at the South Pole

• 👁 Dr. Kelsey Young is the Artemis Science Flight Operations Lead and works at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. Complete transcript available. Dr. Young discusses the JETT5 mission, which was conducted May 13-17. During JETT5, astronauts performed a series of simulated moonwalks in the San Francisco Volcanic Field near Flagstaff, Arizona, while flight controllers and scientists at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas guided and provided feedback on their progress. JETT5 was designed to prepare crew members for the historic Artemis III mission that will land near the Moon’s south pole. 00:00:00:00 – What is your role in NASA’s Artemis missions? 00:00:58:03 – What was the JETT5 mission, and what activities did it include? 00:01:49:03 – Why are mission simulations like JETT5 critical? 00:02:32:20 – Why was Arizona chosen as the site of the JETT5 field test? 00:03:44:18 – Why were the field tests conducted both in daytime and at night? 00:04:39:13 – Where were Mission Control team members and scientists located? 00:05:21:26 – What is the Science Evaluation Room for the Artemis missions? 00:06:10:17 – What are the activities and roles within the Science Evaluation Room? 00:06:49:00 – What science payloads will the Artemis crew deploy on the lunar surface? 00:07:22:28 – What goes into creating a scientifically well-trained crew member?
  

  ID: 14583 Produced Video

  Artemis & JETT5 Interview with Kelsey Young

  May 8, 2024

  Dr. Kelsey Young is the Artemis Science Flight Operations Lead and works at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.Complete transcript available.Dr. Young discusses the JETT5 mission, which was conducted May 13-17. During JETT5, astronauts performed a series of simulated moonwalks in the San Francisco Volcanic Field near Flagstaff, Arizona, while flight controllers and scientists at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas guided and provided feedback on their progress. JETT5 was designed to prepare crew members for the historic Artemis III mission that will land near the Moon’s south pole.00:00:00:00 – What is your role in NASA’s Artemis missions?00:00:58:03 – What was the JETT5 mission, and what activities did it include?00:01:49:03 – Why are mission simulations like JETT5 critical?00:02:32:20 – Why was Arizona chosen as the site of the JETT5 field test?00:03:44:18 – Why were the field tests conducted both in daytime and at night?00:04:39:13 – Where were Mission Control team members and scientists located?00:05:21:26 – What is the Science Evaluation Room for the Artemis missions?00:06:10:17 – What are the activities and roles within the Science Evaluation Room?00:06:49:00 – What science payloads will the Artemis crew deploy on the lunar surface?00:07:22:28 – What goes into creating a scientifically well-trained crew member? || Kelsey_Young_Interview_Preview_print.jpg (1024x576) [89.8 KB] || Kelsey_Young_Interview_Preview.png (3840x2160) [11.8 MB] || Kelsey_Young_Interview_Preview.jpg (3840x2160) [2.7 MB] || Kelsey_Young_Interview_Preview_searchweb.png (320x180) [76.3 KB] || Kelsey_Young_Interview_Preview_thm.png (80x40) [6.6 KB] || Kelsey_Young_Interview_JETT5_720.mp4 (1280x720) [122.5 MB] || Kelsey_Young_Interview_JETT5_1080.mp4 (1920x1080) [685.7 MB] || KelseyYoungInterviewJETT5.en_US.srt [14.0 KB] || KelseyYoungInterviewJETT5.en_US.vtt [13.4 KB] || Kelsey_Young_Interview_JETT5_4K.mp4 (3840x2160) [4.2 GB] || Kelsey_Young_Interview_JETT5_ProRes.mov (3840x2160) [32.5 GB] ||

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