The NASA-funded Space Launch System (SLS), the massive rocket slated to send the Artemis 2 crew around the moon in 2025, is now seeing its supplementary solid rocket boosters stacked at the agency's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. (The prime contractor of SLS is Boeing.)

A space capsule that traveled 1.4 million miles around the moon was on display at a NASA facility in Ohio. NASA says the capsule underwent testing to ensure that it's ready for a future crewed Artemis mission.

The readiness of the Orion crew capsule, where the four Artemis II astronauts will live during their voyage around the Moon, is driving NASA's schedule for the mission. Officially, Artemis II is projected to launch in September of next year, but there's little chance of meeting that schedule.

NASA is advancing lunar exploration with the Artemis campaign, engaging SpaceX and Blue Origin to deliver vital equipment to the Moon. This initiative, which includes sending a rover and a habitat, sets the stage for extended lunar stays and a future Mars exploration.

The agency said SpaceX and Blue Origin would provide landers that would deliver large pieces of equipment and infrastructure to the lunar surface.

NASA and SpaceX released a new set of illustrations showing off how Starship might look as it lands astronauts on the moon during the Artemis 3 mission.