NASA Debuts Artemis Control Room For Lunar Mission Launches In Florida

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NASA's first lunar campaign in five decades since the Apollo era came to an end should be a little more technologically advanced than its 1960s-70s counterpart.

The U.S. space agency has a brand new complex to watch over its upcoming Artemis II lunar campaign, which in 2026 could send three Americans and one Canadian on a journey around the moon.

That mission will then pave the way for the first Americans to step foot on the moon since the last Apollo mission in 1972.

A landmark mission requires some pretty advanced ground systems to monitor it and that's just what NASA has planned with its new facility in the Mission Control Center at its Johnson Space Center in Houston.

NASA provided a look earlier in August of the Orion Mission Evaluation Room, named for the capsule that will carry astronauts to lunar orbit.

Here's a look at the room that will provide crucial behind-the-scenes input to ensure Orion safely takes its crew around the moon after launching from Florida.

The evaluation room includes 24 consoles that should be staffed 24/7 by at least two engineers in varying disciplines, and sometimes more during "dynamic," or major, phases of the mission, NASA said.

Meanwhile, the flight control team located in mission control's White Flight Control Room will simultaneously operate and send commands to Orion during the flight.