The POT and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) announced the four astronauts who will embark on a journey around the Moon aboard Artemis II: NASA’s Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Hammock Koch, and CSA’s Jeremy Hansen.
This will be the first crewed mission on NASA’s path to establishing a long-term presence on the Moon for science and exploration.
Bill Nelson, NASA administrator, revealed the crew members during an event at Ellington Field, near NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston: “The Artemis II crew represents thousands of people who work tirelessly to take us to the stars. This is your crew, this is our crew, this is the crew of humanity.”.
The crew designations are as follows: Commander Reid Wiseman, Pilot Victor Glover, Mission Specialist 1 Christina Hammock Koch, and Mission Specialist 2 Jeremy Hansen. They will work as a team to execute an ambitious set of demonstrations during this flight test.
Details about the flight test
The Artemis II flight test, which will last about 10 days, will be launched aboard NASA’s powerful Space Launch System rocket to demonstrate the life support systems of the Orion spacecraft and validate the capabilities and techniques necessary for humans to be able to live and work in deep space.
The flight, which will build on the successful Artemis I uncrewed mission completed in December, will lay the foundations for the arrival of the first woman and the first person of color on the Moon through the Artemis programpaving the way for future long-term human exploration missions to the Moon and, later, to Mars.
“We are returning to the Moon, and Canada is at the center of this exciting journey. Thanks to our longstanding collaboration with NASA, a Canadian astronaut will travel on this historic mission. On behalf of all Canadians, I want to congratulate Jeremy for being at the forefront of one of the most ambitious human endeavors ever undertaken.”, said the honorable François-Philippe Champagne, head of the CSA”.
For his part, Norm Knight, NASA Director of Flight Operations at the Johnson Center, said: “I couldn’t be more proud to have these four brave guys kick off our journeys to the Moon and beyond. They represent exactly what an astronaut corps should be: a mix of highly capable and successful individuals with the skills and determination to face any test as a team.”.