NASA has recently announced the names of the astronauts who will be part of the Artemis II mission, the first crewed voyage around the moon in over 50 years. This mission is a major step in NASA’s Artemis program, which aims to send astronauts back to the surface of the moon to explore the cold regions near the moon’s south pole.
One of the most notable aspects of this announcement is that it includes the first woman and the first African American ever assigned as astronauts to a lunar mission. Christina Koch, an engineer who already holds the record for the longest continuous spaceflight by a woman and was part of NASA’s first three all-female spacewalks, has been named as a mission specialist for the Artemis II lunar flyby expected as early as next year. Koch has a background in electrical engineering and physics and has previously worked as a scientist and a station engineer at the South Pole Station in Antarctica. She has logged over 328 days in space and has conducted six spacewalks.
Joining Koch on the Artemis II mission is Victor Glover, a US Navy aviator and veteran of four spacewalks, who NASA has designated as the pilot. He will be the first Black astronaut ever to be sent on a lunar mission. Glover has a background in engineering and has previously served as a test pilot and instructor at the US Navy’s Test Pilot School. He was also a member of the crew of the Crew-1 mission to the International Space Station (ISS), which launched in November 2020 and returned to Earth in May 2021. Glover has logged over 167 days in space and has conducted four spacewalks.
The Artemis II crew also includes Jeremy Hansen, a Royal Canadian Air Force colonel and the first Canadian ever chosen for a flight to the moon, as a mission specialist, and Reid Wiseman, another former US Navy fighter pilot, named as mission commander. Both are 47 years old and have previously served as astronauts on expeditions aboard the International Space Station.
The Artemis II mission is an important milestone for NASA, as it represents the first crewed voyage around the moon in over 50 years and is a major step in the Artemis program’s goal of sending astronauts back to the surface of the moon. The crew will take a 10-day journey around the moon and back to Earth, which is currently scheduled for late next year. The mission will provide valuable information for future lunar expeditions and for the development of technology and infrastructure necessary for long-duration missions in deep space.
