Summary
NASA has uploaded more than 800 gigabytes of Artemis II lunar science data to its public Planetary Data System. The release includes more than 11,000 images and videos, crew audio recordings, annotated images and three science publications.
NASA has made more than 800 gigabytes of Artemis II lunar science data available through its Planetary Data System, the agency’s public archive for planetary missions. The release, announced October 7, 2026, includes more than 11,000 full-resolution images and videos, 8.5 hours of crew audio recordings and images annotated by the astronauts.
What the release contains
The images came from handheld cameras used by the crew and cameras aboard the Orion spacecraft. The audio captures astronauts’ spoken observations of the lunar surface; the annotated images add notes made during the mission. NASA also published the Artemis II Preliminary Lunar Science Report, the Artemis II Lunar Science Operations Report and the Artemis II Lunar Science Data User Guide.
During the lunar flyby, crew members took turns photographing the Moon, making annotations and recording observations. NASA says the four-person crew—NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch, and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen—trained in lunar geography, geology and observation methods before the mission.
Why human observations add context
Images show surface features, while crew notes and recordings can preserve what astronauts noticed and how they described changes in colour or other details as they observed. Read together, these materials give researchers more context for studying the photographs and for understanding how people selected targets during a lunar flyby.
NASA describes this as the first planetary science dataset captured primarily by humans in more than half a century. The agency says the crew’s observations complement data collected by Apollo astronauts and robotic explorers. The release is intended for further study by the global science community and the public.
NASA says the accompanying reports document the mission’s science activities and how its observation plan was developed and carried out. The agency says the information is already helping inform plans for Artemis III and later missions.