Images depicting NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket are projected onto the Washington Monument as part of an event to kick off the nation's 250th birthday year, Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2025, in Washington, D.C. (Image credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls)

The U.S. capital was just moonstruck — or at least, the Washington Monument was.

An image of NASA's iconic Saturn V rocket was projected onto the monument at night between Dec. 31 and Jan. 5. That latter date is just a month out from the possible launch of the Artemis 2 round-the-moon mission with four astronauts, which is scheduled to lift off as soon as Feb. 6.

"Freedom 250 is ringing in the New Year by illuminating the story of America, including reaching for the stars, and highlighting our achievements in space, on the Washington Monument," NASA officials wrote about the light show, which featured other imagery as well, on X on Dec. 31.

Freedom 250 is the organization responsible for marking the 250th anniversary of the approval of the Declaration of Independence, an event popularly celebrated as the beginning of the United States. The declaration, which passed the Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, stated that 13 British colonies in North America would separate from Great Britain and form a United States of America with independent powers of commerce and state, according to the Encyclopedia Britannica.

The projection show was accompanied by a fireworks display to celebrate New Year's Eve. (Image credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls)

Artemis 2 includes NASA commander Reid Wiseman, NASA pilot Victor Glover (who will become the first Black person to leave low Earth orbit), NASA mission specialist Christina Koch (the first woman to do the same) and Canadian Space Agency mission specialist (the first non-American). It follows on from , an uncrewed flight to lunar orbit in late 2022 that tested the SLS as well as the that the astronauts will pilot on Artemis 2.