NASA Minute: Feb. 6, 2026

From launch preparations here on Earth to new insights from the farthest reaches of the universe, NASA is moving exploration forward. Here’s a look at what's happened this week in your NASA Minute.

What is said in the film

From launch preparations here on Earth to new insights from the farthest reaches of the universe, NASA is moving exploration forward. Here’s a look at what's happened this week in your NASA Minute. NASA’s SpaceX Crew-12 mission is preparing to launch four astronauts to the International Space Station next week. NASA is targeting an earliest launch opportunity of 6:01 a. m.

on Wednesday, February 11, from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. Right now, teams are completing final reviews of the spacecraft, in anticipation of the eight-month expedition aboard the orbiting laboratory where the four astronauts will advance scientific discovery, support station operations, and carry human spaceflight forward in low-Earth orbit. On Monday, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth visited Kennedy Space Center as part of his “Arsenal of Freedom Tour” to underscore the importance of the relationship between NASA and the Department of War. Secretary Hegseth joined NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman to view the Space Launch System Rocket at Launch Complex 39B, and for a birds-eye tour of the center from the cockpit of one of Isaacman’s F-5 fighter jets. NASA teams recently completed a major prelaunch test for the Artemis II mission finishing a wet dress rehearsal in the early hours of February 3rd.

During the test, engineers fueled the SLS rocket, carried out final closeout work on the Orion spacecraft, and then safely drained the vehicle of fuel — running through the same operations that they’ll carry out on launch day. The rehearsal met many of its goals and produced valuable data, but it also revealed areas that need more work. To address those findings, NASA will conduct a second fueling test to ensure that the vehicle and spacecraft are ready for the mission. Our earliest possible launch opportunity will now be in March. Each day, teams at NASA are moving us closer to returning to the lunar environment for the first time in over 50 years!

NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has pushed even deeper into the early universe, discovering a bright galaxy that formed just 280 million years after the beginning of the universe. Findings like this galaxy, known as MoM-z14, are helping scientists refine the universe’s timeline and rethink what the earliest galaxies looked like, offering rare insight into an early cosmos that may have been more complex — and more active — than once expected. In a milestone for NASA and America's space industry, a capsule with an innovative heat shield recently blazed through Earth's atmosphere, successfully bringing valuable experiments back home. The NASA-developed heat shield material was licensed and produced by Varda Space Industries to protect the capsules they use for research missions as they return from low Earth orbit. By making this thermal protection material available to our nation's space sector, NASA is making more scientific discoveries possible and advancing the low Earth orbit economy.

From low-Earth orbit to the Moon and beyond, we’re continuing to work to advance the new Golden Age of Exploration. We’ll see you next time on the NASA Minute!

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