NASA News: The Next Astronauts to Visit the Moon

The Artemis II Crew was announced earlier this month. Meet the federal employees who will take humanity back to the moon after 5 decades.

On Monday, April 10th, at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Texas, the four-man crew for the Artemis II mission was announced. The exercise will brings humans to the lunar surface for the first time since the Apollo 17 mission, which took place at the end of 1972 – now more than 50 years ago. All four members of the newly unveiled crew were all born after that last Apollo mission.

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After the unmanned Artemis I mission successfully completed its 25-day journey to the moon’s orbit and back, the US Space Agency began gearing up for the next mission, which will include people and is penciled-in for a November 2024 launch. The four individuals will run a 10-day test flight consisting of several experiments and safety checks. Should all go according to plan, it will prove the viability of both the SLS (Space Launch System) rocket and the Orion spaceship’s life support systems. This in turn will allow NASA and SpaceX to continue working toward the lofty goals of both establishing a long-term presence on the Earth’s natural satellite and bringing people safely to the red planet.

Meet the Crew

The Artemis II mission’s crew will include:

• Richard Wisemann, Commander. In 2014, he spent 165 days in space aboard the International Space Station (ISS) as a flight engineer. He was born in Baltimore, MD and also received his master’s degree there – from Johns Hopkins University.
• Victor Glover, Pilot. Set to become the first black person on the moon, Glover has 168 days of experience in outer space. He flew the SpaceX Crew I in May 2021. Born in California, he received his master’s from the US Air Force’s ‘Air University,’ served in “operation Iraqi freedom,” and worked as a staff member for the late John McCain in 2013.
• Christina H. Koch, Mission Specialist 1. She has participated in the first all-female spacewalk and clocked the longest spaceflight for a woman at 328 days, which she accomplished from March 14, 2019, to February 6, 2020. Koch will be able to add ‘first woman on the moon’ to her impressive resume after the Artemis II is complete. Born in Michigan, she received two bachelor’s degrees and a master’s at North Carolina State University.
• Jeremy Hansen, Mission Specialist 2. The only Canadian on the crew, and ready to be the first Canadian to visit the lunar surface. He represents the CSA (Canadian Space Agency) unlike the other 3 crewmembers, who are from NASA. Although he has never left our planet’s atmosphere, he does have experience as both a “cavenaut” and an “aquanaut.” He completed cave training off the coast of Sardinia (the second largest island in the Mediterranean Sea) in 2013. Hansen also participated in a 7-day undersea exploration mission in 2014 off the coast of the Florida Keys.

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Until Next Time,

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NASA News: The Next Astronauts to Visit the Moon