Artemis Program Status June 1: 8 Days to Crew Reveal at JSC — New Glenn LC-36 Damage Assessment Underway; IFT-12 Investigation Active; Crew Day 52

As of June 1, 2026, NASA's Artemis program is 8 days from the Artemis III crew announcement scheduled for June 9 at 11:00 a.m. EDT at Johnson Space Center, Houston. The event will be broadcast live on NASA+, NASA TV, and YouTube. The four-person crew for Artemis III — now redesignated as an Earth-orbit rendezvous and docking test mission targeting late 2027 — will be publicly named for the first time. The Artemis II crew (Commander Reid Wiseman, Pilot Victor Glover, Mission Specialist Christina Koch, Canadian Mission Specialist Jeremy Hansen) are on Day 52 post-splashdown, continuing post-flight physiological reconditioning and medical evaluations at Johnson Space Center. The Artemis II Orion capsule continues de-servicing at KSC's Multi-Payload Processing Facility; the heat shield is on track for shipment to Marshall Space Flight Center this summer for X-ray scans and Avcoat sample extractions that will define Artemis IV crewed landing readiness. On the Moon Base front, the explosion of Blue Origin's New Glenn rocket at LC-36 during a prelaunch static fire test on May 29 is now the subject of a formal damage assessment. New Glenn is the only rocket capable of delivering the Blue Moon Mark 1 Endurance cargo lander — contracted to carry the Astrolab FLIP rover and Lunar Outpost Pegasus LTV to the lunar south pole as Moon Base I (previously targeting fall 2026) — and cannot fly until LC-36 is repaired. NASA has not yet announced a revised Moon Base I timeline. The FAA's mishap investigation into Starship IFT-12's Booster 19 boostback burn failure (May 22) remains open; IFT-13 cannot receive a flight license until SpaceX completes and submits its corrective-action report for FAA approval, with the earliest IFT-13 flight projected July–August 2026. The House Appropriations full-committee markup (May 13) recommending $24.438B for NASA — flat with FY2026, rejecting the White House's 23% cut — remains on the House floor calendar awaiting scheduling. Senate CJS bipartisan opposition to the proposed cut mirrors the House position.