History was made over 50 years ago when NASA reached the moon on its Apollo-17 mission.
It seems that since then, returning to the moon has been close to non-existent. That is, until now. The plans have been set and announced by NASA – the first crewed moon mission in five decades was revealed on Monday, aiming to begin training for a historic journey via Artemis II lunar flyby set to take off in November 2024.
Let’s meet the crew!
Mission Specialist Jeremy Hansen, (far left) represents Canada and will be making his first flight to space as an Artemis II astronaut. In 2017, Hansen became the first Canadian to be entrusted with leading a NASA astronaut class, overseeing the training of astronaut candidates from the United States and Canada.
NASA Astronaut Victor Glover, (center left) will serve as the Artemis II mission pilot. This will be his second flight to space on the craft and has served as pilot on NASA’s SpaceX Crew-1 mission, which landed May 2, 2021, after 168 days in space. As a flight engineer aboard the space station for Expedition 64, he contributed to scientific investigations, technology demonstrations, and participated in four spacewalks.
NASA Astronaut Reid Wiseman, (center right) will serve as Commander of the Artemis II mission. This will be Wiseman’s second trip into space, serving previously as a flight engineer aboard the International Station for Expedition 40/41 in 2014. Logged with165 days in space, he includes almost 13 hours of spacewalking time. Wiseman served as chief of the Astronaut Office from December 2020 until November2022.
NASA Astronaut Christina Koch, (far right) will serve as a mission specialist, also traveling to space for the second time on the Artemis II mission. Koch served as flight engineer aboard the space station for Expeditions 59, 60, and 61. Koch set a record for the longest single spaceflight by a woman with a total of 328 days in space and participated in the first all-female spacewalk.
“It’s so much more than the four names that have been announced,” Glover said during the Monday announcement at NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston. “We need to celebrate this moment in human history. … It is the next step in the journey that will get humanity to Mars.”
Instagram’s @NASAJohnson contributed to the short biographies of each astronaut.
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