Hams Wanted to Observe NASA Moon Misson

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is looking for volunteers to passively observe the 2026 Artemis II Orion spacecraft as the crewed mission travels to the Moon and back to Earth.

The Artemis II check flight will ship NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, KF5LKT; Victor Glover, KI5BKC; and Christina Koch, together with Canadian Space Agency (CSA) astronaut Jeremy Hansen, KF5LKU, on an roughly 10-day mission across the Moon.

Targeted for no later than April 2026, the mission will depend on NASA’s Near Space Network and Deep Space Network for major communications and monitoring help all through its launch, orbit, and reentry. However, with a rising concentrate on commercialization, NASA needs to additional perceive trade’s monitoring capabilities.

This collaboration alternative builds upon a earlier request launched by NASA’s Space Communication and Navigation Program (SCaN ) through the Artemis I mission in 2022. Ten volunteers efficiently tracked the uncrewed Orion spacecraft on its journey 1000’s of miles past the Moon and again.

One of these volunteers monitoring in 2022 was Scott Chapman, K4KDR, of Montpelier, Virginia. “Sometimes it’s what you don’t know that makes this kind activity interesting,” stated Chapman. “All I had was a small S-band dish and receiver and wasn’t sure what I could or couldn’t hear…but when I started hearing the signals…it made everything worth it.”

Chapman stated he felt good about the entire course of and, whereas it was fascinating, it was additionally lot of enjoyable!

There had been additionally different individuals through the Artemis I mission, together with worldwide area businesses, educational establishments, business corporations, nonprofits, and personal residents who had been additionally trying to obtain Orion’s indicators. Chapman added that NASA can also be searching for business partnerships to share within the course of.

If you’re fascinated by volunteering for subsequent 12 months’s occasion, all the info can  be discovered at SAM.gov. The response deadline is October 27, 2025, at 5:00 PM EDT.