NASA officials have previously spoken of the possibility of extraterrestrial life amid scientific uncertainty while highlighting the agency’s role in collecting evidence for the search of alien life. In 2023, then NASA Administrator Bill Nelson announced that he was appointing a committee of scientists to address “so many suspicions about aliens.”

The crew shared an emotional moment with mission control and the family of Reid Wiseman, whose wife, Carroll, died in 2020, on the ground in Houston.

NASA's Artemis II astronauts are on course to make history when they conduct a lunar flyby around the farside of the moon - a first for humans since Apollo 17 in 1972.

The proposed budget would cut NASA's overall funding by 23% and nearly halve its science portfolio. A proposed fiscal year 2027 budget for NASA would cut the agency's overall funding by 23% and slash its science programs by nearly half, prompting strong opposition from the space community.

As the Artemis II crewed moon mission soars deeper into space than humans have traveled in decades, back on Earth, the White House has proposed slashing NASA’s budget.

More breathtaking images released over the weekend from NASA's Artemis II mission show both the moon and Earth in all its cosmic glory. Take a look.

"Amaze, amaze, amaze," a voice from NASA said as it came over the video feed, referencing the iconic line from the lovable alien Rocky from Project Hail Mary. Andy Weir's popular science fiction novel was turned into a massive blockbuster with the Ryan Gosling-led film already bringing in over $420 million at the box office.

NASA administrator Jared Isaacman says Artemis II would not be at this moment without President Trump as Orion prepares to pass the far side of the Moon.