NASA Minute: May 1, 2026

This week, the Artemis II crew traveled to the White House for an official visit with President Donald Trump in the Oval Office. At Kennedy Space Center, work is moving quickly from one Moon mission to the next, and NASA released a powerful airflow simulation tool known as Launch, Ascent, and Vehicle Aerodynamics, or LAVA, for use by the aerospace industry.

What is said in the film

It's been another big week at NASA, as teams across the country work to achieve the near-impossible in air and space. Here's what's new this week, in your NASA minute! On Wednesday, the Artemis II crew visited the White House for an official visit with President Donald Trump in the Oval Office. Reid, Victor, Christina, and Jeremy's historic mission marked a major step forward for the Artemis program, advancing the administration's vision for American leadership on the Moon and beyond. We have some people that have captivated the attention of the whole world.

Not just our country, the whole world, and they're very brave. And that was a lot of rocket under them, I never saw anything like that. We were talking about it, It’s a — I don't know how they do it. I wouldn't want to do it. But — it takes people like this to make our country great At Kennedy Space Center, work is moving quickly from one Moon mission to the next.

This week, the core stage of the Artemis III SLS entered the Vehicle Assembly Building, and the Orion spacecraft from Artemis II returned for post-flight analysis. The turnaround is happening fast, as NASA builds momentum toward regular missions to the Moon. At NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California, teams are testing a powerful new electric thruster that could one day help carry future missions to Mars. The lithium-fed system reached power levels far beyond electric thrusters on current NASA spacecraft, and if paired with a nuclear power source, could enable more efficient travel to deep space. And this week, NASA released a powerful air flow simulation tool known as Launch, Ascent, and Vehicle Aerodynamics, or LAVA, for use by the aerospace industry.

For years, NASA has used LAVA for everything from Artemis II launch simulations to creating icing models for aircraft, and now, American industry has access to that same toolkit. The golden age of American Space Exploration is here, and we're excited to have you following along. See you next week on the NASA minute!

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