Artemis II: NASA announces four astronauts to orbit the moon

NASA has chosen astronauts for the Artemis II mission, scheduled for late 2024. This mission will take 4 crew members across the moon in a determine eight, the primary time people have visited the moon for the reason that Apollo 17 mission in 1972. .

The mission’s commander will probably be NASA’s chief astronaut, Reid Wiseman, till November 2022 – which implies he is probably accountable for choosing the Artemis II crew. He had been to area as soon as earlier than, touring to the Worldwide House Station (ISS) in 2014.

Victor Glover would be the pilot. He flew to the ISS in 2020 on SpaceX’s Crew-1 mission, the primary operational mission of the business crew program, and is commercially a check pilot.

There will probably be two mission specialists, an all-encompassing place for astronauts who don’t command or pilot missions. First up is Christina Koch — who holds the document for longest spaceflight by a girl — spent 328 days in area from 2018 to early 2019. The second is Jeremy Hansen, considered one of 4 energetic Canadian astronauts. She would be the solely crew member to make her first flight into area on the Artemis II.

“Manned spaceflight is sort of a relay race, and that flag has been handed down from technology to technology and from crew member to crew member,” Glover mentioned throughout the announcement. “When we now have the privilege of proudly owning the baton, we are going to do our greatest to have an excellent race.”

The Artemis II mission will final about 10 days, with astronauts launching into area on NASA’s huge House Launch System (SLS) rocket and orbiting Earth in just below two days earlier than heading to the moon. They won’t enter lunar orbit. One of many essential causes for the mission is to totally check life assist programs and spacecraft maneuvers.

The Artemis II crew will journey 370,000 kilometers from Earth; The document distance for deep area journey belongs to the Apollo 13 mission, which lined 400,171 kilometers.

The Artemis II crew will return dwelling after circumnavigating the moon. If all goes effectively, this mission would be the final step earlier than sending people again to the floor of the Moon, scheduled for 2025.