HOUSTON (WSVN) — It has been an exciting year for NASA and space fans. From Artemis II’s historic, record-breaking lunar flyby, to the future of space exploration, the Artemis program is bringing outer space closer than ever, and this modern day space race is inspiring the next generation of astronauts.
NASA astronaut Kjell Lindgren on Monday discussed the space agency’s next steps in the wake of the historic launch, a moon base unveiling and new crew announcement.
“We are in the golden age of space exploration,” he said.
Just as his imagination was captured by watching the Apollo astronauts, Lundgren said, a new generation is seeing what’s possible decades later.
“It is the ‘human’ in human spaceflight that makes the endeavor so challenging,” he said. “It is also the ‘human’ in human spaceflight that makes it so compelling.”
Helping make that connection is NASA embracing digital media. In 2025 the agency overhauled its social media strategy to better connect with audiences.
The effort that was evident during Artemis II, bringing people along for the ride in ways prior moon missions couldn’t.
“How cool is that? We get their playlists, we get to see their videos, we get to follow along. You know, the little things that happened during the mission make it real,” said Nujoud Merancy, NASA’s Deputy Associate Administrator for Strategy.
Merancy said that going beyond polished, perfectly curated, influencer-type content and sharing real, organic moments and emotions is key.
“It’s the crew being excited about seeing flashes of micrometeoroids on the moon. The bottle of Nutella floating through the cabin,” she said. “It’s those little things that I think have the most impact.”
And Merancy has a message for those enthusiasts who are inspired but aren’t sure where they might fit in this new world of space exploration…
“I hope they just keep following along and then let their curiosity guide them,” she said. “There are so many avenues to supporting this, and it’s not just the traditional engineering and scientist roles.”
Just last week, NASA unveiled the crew for Artemis III, an announce that that’s sure to keep fans young and old looking to the stars and beyond.
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