Artemis III Crew Reveal Eve — June 9 Announcement 2 Days Away at JSC; Final SRB Segments Approaching KSC; Orion Heat Shield Headed to Marshall This Summer; Crew Day 58

June 7, 2026: Two days before the Artemis III crew announcement scheduled for June 9 at 11:00 a.m. EDT at Johnson Space Center in Houston (NASA+/YouTube), anticipation is building across the space community as the names of the four astronauts assigned to Artemis III are set to be revealed for the first time. The Artemis III mission — redesignated in February 2026 as an Earth-orbit rendezvous and docking demonstration targeting late 2027, rather than a crewed lunar landing — will verify Orion's ability to dock with SpaceX Starship HLS and Blue Origin Blue Moon Mk.2 at approximately 460 km low Earth orbit before the crewed lunar landing attempt on Artemis IV (2028). Hardware milestone: The eight Artemis III five-segment SLS solid rocket booster motor segments, which departed Northrop Grumman's Corinne, Utah facility on June 2 by Union Pacific rail, are approaching Kennedy Space Center and expected to arrive within the next 1–4 days for summer stacking alongside the SLS core stage in the Vehicle Assembly Building. The Artemis III structural spacer (replacing the ICPS upper stage) is in fabrication at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center. Orion de-servicing: The Artemis II Orion capsule continues de-servicing at KSC's Multi-Payload Processing Facility (avionics extraction, payload removal, propellant offload). The heat shield is scheduled for shipment to NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center this summer for X-ray scans and Avcoat sample extractions — findings will inform the Artemis IV crewed landing heat shield design and certification. Crew status: Artemis II crew — Commander Reid Wiseman, Pilot Victor Glover, Mission Specialist Christina Koch, and CSA Mission Specialist Jeremy Hansen — are on Day 58 post-splashdown at Johnson Space Center, continuing post-flight physiological reconditioning and mission debriefs. Blue Origin: LC-36 recovery assessment ongoing; CEO Dave Limp's year-end 2026 return-to-flight target via alternative vertical conops remains the stated plan, with no revised Moon Base I delivery date issued. IFT-12 investigation: FAA mishap investigation into the Starship IFT-12 Booster 19 boostback burn anomaly (May 22) remains open; IFT-13 blocked from flight license, earliest return-to-flight July–August 2026. Congressional front: House Appropriations FY2027 markup ($24.438B, flat with FY2026) awaiting House floor scheduling. CLPS 2.0 RFP responses due June 30, 2026.