I love my job. Honored to serve 🇺🇸

One. More. Day. #UFCWhiteHouse #America250

AMERICA AF. 🦅🇺🇸

Not just celebrating history, making it. 🇺🇸

I had the opportunity to visit @NASALangley today and spent time with the extraordinary workforce helping shape the future of American aerospace and space exploration. Their work helps support Artemis, future lunar operations, advanced flight system materials and hypersonics, and nuclear technologies in space. America's leadership in space depends on people willing to solve hard problems, and Langley is full of them.

While today's IPO is good for SpaceX (and deservedly so). It is broadening the aperture of opportunity for all US commercial space companies. That's good for the nation, and it's good for all of us who work to see America retain the leadership of space technology and innovation for generations to come. 🚀🇺🇸

WATCH: U.S Air Force Thunderbirds and U.S. Navy Blue Angels practice a flyover this morning before the UFC Freedom 250 event this weekend at The White House. Video: danaiiiwhite

Blue Angels & Thunderbirds practice flight over the White House!

Great meeting with some of NOAA’s Hurricane Hunter pilots and learning firsthand about the demanding missions they fly in support of hurricane forecasting. Thanks to the entire Hurricane Hunter team for the work they do every hurricane season.

We are returning to the Moon, to build something extraordinary and continue mankinds greatest adventure to the stars. @NASAMoonBase will serve as an outpost for science, technology demonstrations, and the development of capabilities that will shape the future of exploration and prepare us for Mars.

🇺🇸 America turns 250 and we're celebrating accordingly. 56 states and territories. 150 exhibits. Daily programming. Military flyovers. Live performances. American innovation, industry, culture, and tradition on display in the heart of the nation's capital. June 25–July 10, 2026. The biggest birthday party in American history.

Big week for Artemis III 🚀 Just before NASA introduced the Artemis III crew, the SLS solid rocket booster segments arrived in Florida after a six-day rail journey from Utah. Later this year, teams will begin stacking the boosters that create 75% of the thrust needed at launch.

Apollo taught us what was possible. Artemis is showing us what comes next. We no longer have to put everything on a single rocket. Artemis III will bring together multiple launch providers and reusable systems so we can learn, improve, and build the capabilities needed for a sustained human presence beyond Earth. This time, we are building the capabilities to stay.

The future of exploration will be built through thriving spaceports, reusable rockets, orbital assembly, and technologies we once only imagined. Just as railroads and highways transformed our economy, tomorrow’s orbital and lunar economy will help power what comes next. Very exciting times ahead.

The @AFThunderbirds are back! The team will fly into Wallops today, June 10, after 4pm ET. Catch the Thunderbirds & other performers flying around Friday, June 12, between 10am-4pm. The Thunderbirds will depart to their OC air show performance after 2pm Saturday & Sunday.

Ambitious is what we do at NASA. Artemis III will be unlike anything we’ve ever undertaken. A multi-launch campaign bringing together the most powerful rockets in the world to test rendezvous, docking, and interoperability across multiple systems close to Earth before we return astronauts to the lunar surface. This is how we get into the rhythm of the missions that follow. You give NASA and our industry partners a year, we’ll get the job done.

Grateful to @SLOTUS for inspiring the next generation of explorers and for welcoming the Artemis II crew to share the wonder of space exploration with young minds. The kids dressing up as astronauts today may one day be the engineers, scientists, astronauts, and mission leaders shaping what comes next.

Starting with some energy, and my inability to write brief updates, I am just extremely proud of the NASA crew, our industry, and our international partners. We are getting into a rhythm here at NASA. Earlier this year, setbacks put the Artemis II rocket back in the VAB for repairs, and we determined it was necessary to add another mission, Artemis III in 2027. Since then, we have unveiled the Ignition plans to build a Moon Base and nuclear-powered spaceships, launched a highly successful mission around the Moon, brought the crew home safely, and now watched the torch pass to Artemis III. There will be no shortage of major milestones to celebrate in the months ahead as we build the Moon Base and launch the Nancy Grace Roman telescope. I am beyond proud of the team and all the momentum and excitement around the space program. I do want to take this moment to address two of the questions I have been seeing since the crew announcement. Why are there no women assigned to Artemis III? I have seen reactions ranging from disappointment to outrage. I have personally been to space twice with 50% female crews. My closest advisors and some of the smartest engineers I know are women. In our latest NASA leadership organization, nearly 50% of the Center Directors and Mission Directorate leadership are women. The last astronaut candidate class selected under this Administration was majority female because they were the best of the best, including one astronaut I previously went to space with. In a world with so much controversy, I hope this can be a moment where we celebrate the astronauts selected, respect the integrity of the process, and recognize the extraordinary depth of talent across the entire corps. The crew selection does not involve any political appointees. The Astronaut Office assigns the crew that gives the mission the best chance of meeting its objectives, taking into account many factors, including the background and expertise of the astronauts, such as test pilot experience, development work on specific programs, and availability. For example, those raising this concern may not be aware of the pipeline of crews already preparing to launch to the Space Station, or those who have been undergoing lunar-specific training that would be a better fit for a future surface mission. The Artemis III astronauts are experienced, qualified, and deserve to be celebrated for the mission they have been assigned, just as the crews that follow will be celebrated when their time comes. We have an extraordinary astronaut corps, and every mission and every crew is part of a larger campaign to get America back to the Moon and to build the future we all dreamed about as children. What are the objectives for Artemis III if both landers will not be fully ready? Coming off a highly successful lunar mission like Artemis II, it is not surprising that the bar is set high for Artemis III. I think it is important to understand how difficult and dangerous it is to land astronauts on the Moon. We have not done it in a very long time, and we want to draw from a past playbook for success. That means getting into a cadence of launching, learning, and rolling improvements into the next mission. First and foremost, it is imperative for SLS to be flying with some frequency for operational currency and, honestly, safety. Earlier this year, it was very clear across NASA leadership that an additional mission was necessary in 2027. It is also imperative to gain interoperability data from rendezvous and docking with landers in Earth orbit. We do not need those landers that are still in development to be fully capable and certified for landing on the Moon on Artemis III, but we do need to test certain systems and controllability. Not to mention, we are moving quickly into a future where we do not require a single rocket to bring everything necessary for a mission to space, and as such, gaining experience with multi-launch campaigns and on-orbit assembly is directionally correct. The Blue Origin test lander for Artemis III will incorporate many of the most important systems and subsystems that have not previously been operated by the provider, including ECLSS in a crew cabin, and other avionics. With SpaceX, they have demonstrated many of those capabilities continuously on Crew Dragon, but other controllability tests are important based on the negative-X axis acceleration that will be necessary when Starship undertakes the TLI burn to the Moon with a docked Orion. After Artemis III, we will learn a lot and roll in further improvements, be that hardware, software, or procedural updates, as both providers undertake end-to-end uncrewed demonstrations to the surface in 2028, in advance of Artemis IV, where NASA astronauts will finally complete the grand return to the Moon. As I said in my remarks yesterday, when Gene Cernan left the lunar surface on Apollo 17, he said, “We leave as we came, and, God willing, we shall return, with peace and hope for all mankind.” We are returning, and we are doing so with the fire carried forward from Apollo, the lessons learned from Artemis II, the crew of Artemis III, and all those who will follow. NASA will send the very best crews for the right missions. If the composition of our astronaut corps and our latest class of candidates says anything, it is that we have exactly the talent required to get the job done. Godspeed Artemis III, and all those who will follow.

Proud to continue our partnership with @esa as Luca Parmitano joins the Artemis III crew. Great things happen when trusted partners come together around bold goals. Together, Artemis III will prove the capabilities and operational rhythm needed for the next era of lunar exploration.

Andre Douglas Luca Parmitano Randy Bresnik Frank Rubio ARTEMIS III. 2027. 🚀🌙

The Artemis Generation is here. Artemis III will help us get into the rhythm of multi-launch campaigns, test new capabilities close to home, and then take the next step toward building a sustained human presence at the lunar South Pole.