NASA has chosen its first crewed moon mission astronauts in five decades.
The quartet set to embark on the historic Artemis II lunar flyby, scheduled for November 2024, comprise Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Jeremy Hansen of the Canadian Space Agency. The team's diversity reflects NASA's shift away from an all-male test pilot tradition.
Reid Wiseman, a 47-year-old decorated naval aviator and test pilot, is set to serve as commander. He previously completed one spaceflight with a Russian Soyuz rocket in 2014. Wiseman held the position of chief of the astronaut office before stepping down last November.
The Canadian Space Agency's Jeremy Hansen, also 47 years old, will be making history as Canada's first astronaut to travel to deep space. Hansen's background includes fighter piloting and test pilot training.
Victor Glover, a 46-year-old naval aviator who spent nearly six months on the International Space Station with SpaceX's Crew Dragon spacecraft in 2021, is among the crew members. As part of his mission, he will be the first to celebrate humanity's next step towards Mars.
Christina Koch, a veteran of six spacewalks and record holder for the longest single spaceflight by a woman at 328 days, will also be on board. She helped develop scientific instruments for multiple NASA missions before joining the Artemis crew.
In preparation for their historic mission, the four astronauts recently found out they were selected a few weeks ago during an unexpected meeting under a different pretext. They will undergo training in Houston ahead of launch at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, which is expected to take place around November 2024.
The spacecraft will embark on a journey that could potentially send humans further than any human has traveled in history, with the exact distance yet to be determined. After circling the moon, they will return to Earth for a splashdown landing in the Pacific Ocean.
Artemis II is the first step towards NASA's long-term goal of establishing a permanent lunar outpost and sending the first humans to Mars. This mission marks the culmination of years-long efforts by NASA to revive its manned spaceflight program after the Apollo era ended in 1972, with a renewed focus on diversity and inclusion among astronauts.
The quartet set to embark on the historic Artemis II lunar flyby, scheduled for November 2024, comprise Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Jeremy Hansen of the Canadian Space Agency. The team's diversity reflects NASA's shift away from an all-male test pilot tradition.
Reid Wiseman, a 47-year-old decorated naval aviator and test pilot, is set to serve as commander. He previously completed one spaceflight with a Russian Soyuz rocket in 2014. Wiseman held the position of chief of the astronaut office before stepping down last November.
The Canadian Space Agency's Jeremy Hansen, also 47 years old, will be making history as Canada's first astronaut to travel to deep space. Hansen's background includes fighter piloting and test pilot training.
Victor Glover, a 46-year-old naval aviator who spent nearly six months on the International Space Station with SpaceX's Crew Dragon spacecraft in 2021, is among the crew members. As part of his mission, he will be the first to celebrate humanity's next step towards Mars.
Christina Koch, a veteran of six spacewalks and record holder for the longest single spaceflight by a woman at 328 days, will also be on board. She helped develop scientific instruments for multiple NASA missions before joining the Artemis crew.
In preparation for their historic mission, the four astronauts recently found out they were selected a few weeks ago during an unexpected meeting under a different pretext. They will undergo training in Houston ahead of launch at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, which is expected to take place around November 2024.
The spacecraft will embark on a journey that could potentially send humans further than any human has traveled in history, with the exact distance yet to be determined. After circling the moon, they will return to Earth for a splashdown landing in the Pacific Ocean.
Artemis II is the first step towards NASA's long-term goal of establishing a permanent lunar outpost and sending the first humans to Mars. This mission marks the culmination of years-long efforts by NASA to revive its manned spaceflight program after the Apollo era ended in 1972, with a renewed focus on diversity and inclusion among astronauts.