Keynote: Dr. Tyler Nester, NASA, presents “Moon to Mars – Artemis II Mission…Next Steps"
Moon to Mars – Artemis II Mission…Next Steps
Dr. Tyler Nester
NASA
Tuesday, June 2, 2026 | 4:00 – 5:00 p.m.
Exhibit Hall A – Industry Forum
Abstract: NASA’s Moon to Mars program has entered a transformative new phase. Following the March 2026 “Ignition” initiative, the Artemis architecture has been revised to work towards an accelerated mission cadence, a permanent lunar surface presence, and a parallel push towards future Mars missions. Presented from the perspective of NASA’s Artemis II Chief Engineer, this talk provides a program-level overview of the revised Artemis and Moon to Mars plans, highlights from the recently completed Artemis II flight, key lessons learned, and the next steps now underway. On April 1, 2026, Artemis II launched four astronauts on the maiden crewed flight of the Space Launch System (SLS) and the Orion spacecraft Integrity, completing a 695,081-mile lunar flyby — farther than any humans have ever traveled — before splashing down on April 10. The mission validated Orion life support and crew operations in deep space, demonstrated manual piloting in support of future rendezvous and docking, and executed the first crewed reentry from lunar-return velocities in over fifty years. Highlights from post-flight assessments will be shared at an overview level, with a particular focus on items relevant to the AeroMat community.
The talk closes with information on NASA’s path forward: the Ignition initiative; revised Artemis III objectives; the Artemis IV lunar landing and subsequent mission cadence; and longer-horizon Mars precursor activities, including the Space Reactor-1 Freedom nuclear-electric propulsion demonstration. Each of these milestones depends on materials and manufacturing advances that the AeroMat community is central to delivering.
Biography: Tyler Nester is the acting Moon-to Mars Chief Engineer on the Artemis Program. He served as the technical authority for NASA’s Artemis II mission. Prior to this role, Mr. Nester served as a Senior Advisor for Production at NASA Headquarters. As part of this role, he assisted with overall programmatic and technical planning, coordination, management, and integration activities. Mr. Nester previously served as the chief of staff for NASA’s SLS (Space Launch System) Program office assisting with overall programmatic and technical planning, coordination, management and integration activities. Since joining NASA in 2010 and prior to becoming the chief of staff, Mr. Nester worked in several roles in the SLS program including serving as the manager of the SLS Integrated Flight Certification Team. Before that, he served as the associate chief engineer for the SLS Program for seven years. Prior to his civil service career at NASA, Mr. Nester worked as an analyst, a systems engineer, and a chief engineer at a NASA contractor and as a project engineer in the automotive industry. Mr. Nester earned a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, a master’s degree in mechanical engineering from Michigan State University, and a master’s degree in business administration from Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business. He has received numerous honors and awards during his NASA career, including NASA’s Space Flight Awareness Management award, the NASA Exceptional Service Medal, and numerous special service and group awards.