With the Artemis missions, NASA is sending astronauts back to the Moon, where they will learn to work and live on another world, leading to the first human steps on Mars. Artemis astronauts living and working on the Moon will make breakthrough discoveries revealing the formation of the Earth-Moon system and early history of our solar system. Join Jacob Bleacher, NASA’s chief exploration scientist, to hear how NASA is preparing for the next decades of epic lunar science and exploration. The infrastructure it develops will provide the tools, habitation, mobility, and power for crew and robots, providing more access and longer stays at the Moon. Whenever possible, those elements will be designed to work at Mars for future human missions to the Red Planet as NASA designs the blueprint for exploring the solar system.

This program will be presented in-person in the Planetarium at the National Air and Space Museum in DC and will be streamed live on YouTube. 

ASL Interpretation will be provided and live captioning on YouTube. If you require another access service to fully participate or have any questions about accessibility, please contact [email protected]. To ensure the best experience, please try to contact us at your soonest convenience. 

Registration is required for in person attendance and encouraged for online viewing. 

Lecture attendees are invited to arrive early at 7 pm to explore the second-floor galleries of the Museum, including the Kenneth C. Griffin Exploring the Planets Gallery and Destination Moon, prior to the lecture.

About the 2023 Exploring Space Lecture Series 
Science fiction gives us a vision of human life throughout the solar system and the galaxy, but few worlds are truly habitable for people. The 2023 Exploring Space Lecture Series will examine the reality of living and working in space for years at a time. This story begins with remote bases on Earth and then looks outward to the International Space Station, future bases on the Moon and Mars, and the challenges of settlement on more distant worlds.View all programs in the series.

The Exploring Space Lecture Series is made possible by the generous support of Aerojet Rocketdyne and United Launch Alliance.

Add to your calendar as a reminder?

Full Support for iOS ONLY: ICS and Google Calendar.