26.01.2026Physik-Institut participating in NASA study to track the Artemis II moon mission

NASA's Artemis II mission will launch in February 2026 with four astronauts on board for the first crewed mission around the moon in over 50 years. In August 2025, non-NASA organizations were invited to apply for a study to find out if and how data from small receiving stations can be used to determine the trajectory of the Orion spacecraft. 

The radio telescope installed on the roof of building Y36 as part of the “Schulen am Irchel” project is capable of performing very precise frequency measurements at 2216 MHz and, using the Doppler effect, measuring the relative speed to the spacecraft very accurately. In January 2026, NASA announced the participants in this study: 34 organizations and private individuals spread across 14 countries, including the University of Zurich. The plan is to define and implement a corresponding observation program in collaboration with students from UZH and KZN.