NASA is shaking up its Artemis program in a big way. The space agency held a press conference on Friday to discuss the continued delays of the Artemis II mission and address various changes to the program, which should help reduce the long waits between launches. 

In light of multiple Artemis II delays, NASA believes putting humans back on the moon with Artemis III is too ambitious. It’s now delaying a moon landing until Artemis IV.

The Artemis II mission had been scheduled for launch in February but was pushed back after NASA’s SLS rocket failed its first wet dress rehearsal due to a hydrogen and helium fuel leak. The second test run was more successful, but NASA again delayed the launch due to «helium flow» issues discovered after the test, which required the rocket to return to the hangar for additional repairs. 

The new launch date for Artemis II is no earlier than April 1. 

Speeding up the Artemis missions

According to NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman, the Artemis II delay stems from the SLS rocket’s extended launch cadence. Isaacman told reporters on Friday that after three years, skills can «atrophy,» and that asking personnel to stick around for years for the next launch is not tenable. 

The key to more successful launches is to simply launch more frequently, he said. 

«Launching a rocket as complex as the SLS every three years is not a path to success,» Isaacman said during the press conference. «When you are experiencing some of the same issues between launches, you take a close look at your process for remediation, whether you’re getting the true technical root cause, or are you getting close to it.»

For now, NASA is making changes to the agency and the Artemis missions, including shaking up personnel, standardizing the SLS rocket so it can launch more often and getting «back to the basics» to launch missions faster. 

The ultimate goal is to have missions ready to launch every 10 months rather than every three years. 

When will each Artemis mission launch now?

NASA still intends to put astronauts on the moon by 2028. Here is the new launch schedule for the Artemis missions:

• Artemis II: Will launch no earlier than April 1, 2026, and will send astronauts around the moon to conduct tests. 
• Artemis III: Scheduled launch is mid-2027 to perform tests, connecting with lunar landers in low Earth orbit and testing gear that will go on Artemis IV. 
• Artemis IV: Scheduled launch is early 2028, and it will send humans back to the moon. 
• Artemis V: Could launch in late 2028 and send humans to the moon again. If Artemis III and IV are delayed, however, Artemis V will launch in 2029.

What will Artemis III do now?

Now that it’s no longer set to be the moon-landing mission, the new goal of Artemis III is to launch into low-Earth orbit, rendezvous with NASA’s lunar landers, perform tests and learn more about the effects of microgravity on lunar suits. 

Per Isaacman, this is in response to concerns raised by NASA’s Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel that the gap in mission objectives between Artemis II and Artemis III was too great, posing a risk to astronauts. The extra test flight will give NASA more data to better protect astronauts when they do go to the moon.

«We did not just jump to Apollo 11, we did it through Mercury, Gemini and lots of Apollo missions with a launch cadence (of) every three months,» Isaacman told reporters. 

These discussions have been going on behind closed doors for quite some time, and NASA says that Congress and its commercial partners, like Boeing, are all-in on the new plan.

«As NASA lays out an accelerated launch schedule, our workforce and supply chain are prepared to meet the increased production needs,» said Steve Parker, Boeing’s defense, space and security president and CEO.

As a fashion lover who’s always hunting for outfit inspo, I’ve spent more hours than I care to admit trying to track down the exact pieces from a TV scene or red carpet look. So when Samsung unveiled an upgraded version of Circle to Search at its Galaxy Unpacked event in San Francisco that can identify multiple items from a single image, I made a beeline for the Galaxy S26 demo area to try it myself.

Circle to Search, which first appeared on the Galaxy S24 phones and then expanded to other devices as Google Lens, felt like magic: Circle anything on your screen and get instant results. The AI-powered visual search tool can identify objects, translate text and surface contextual results without ever leaving the app you’re on. 

Now it’s gotten even smarter, and broader: Google says it’s now also on Pixel 10 devices.

Instead of just identifying a single item, it can recognize and surface information about multiple things you’ve presented it with, including an entire outfit. The feature can be used for just about everything, from identifying bird species to translating text, but Samsung says fashion and shopping are hands-down the most popular use case.

So of course I had to put it to the test by having it scan my outfit — and I was genuinely floored. In the crowded event space under harsh lighting, I was skeptical it could deliver. It did. 

First, it pulled up an AI summary describing the scene: «The look features a vibrant blue structured blazer, white top, dark fitted leggings and classic black leather boots.» Right below that, I pressed the «Find the look» button and watched it do its magic. 

Within seconds, I was staring at the exact same in-your-face cerulean blazer I was wearing, with a link to the online store I’d bought it from, along with a slew of strikingly similar shopping options ranging from upscale alternatives to budget-friendly picks. This level of stalking would’ve taken me at least 20 minutes to lock down. 

Scrolling down revealed the same for my glossy black leggings. Despite being from many seasons ago and not available anymore, it returned convincing dupes from different retailers. It did the same for my decade-old knee-high boots and even pulled up a used pair from Postmark; a nod at the fact that mine are old AF. The only thing it failed to surface was the shirt I was wearing under the blazer that was clearly visible in the shot. Maybe layers is the next frontier for Circle to Search. 

Surprisingly, the hardest part of the process was figuring out how to use the feature. I had to ask a Samsung employee to take a full-body picture of me. Once I had it on the screen, I long-pressed on the home button at the bottom of the screen, which triggered a Google overlay. I then had to circle myself from head to toe. It’s the kind of feature I’d program on an action button if I could — although my wallet would likely suffer the consequences.  

In doing this, Samsung and Google have virtually removed the friction between liking someone’s outfit, and pressing the trigger on buying it. It wasn’t that long ago that the closest alternative involved screenshotting a look, posting it to Pinterest and attempting to track down similar pieces. This is faster, cleaner and almost dangerously good for fashion lovers like me. 

If this gets any better, Samsung may need to add a few guardrails for those of us prone to a little too much impulse shopping.