The POT finally has chosen one to the astronauts who will carry out the Artemis II mission, which aims to return humans to orbit the Moon after more than 50 years. In total there will be four: the Americans Victor Glover, Christina Hammock Koch and Reid Wiseman, and Canadian Jeremy Hansenwho is representing his country’s space agency.
Times and society have changed significantly since NASA launched the first lunar missions, and this is also reflected in the astronauts chosen. Artemis II is committed to inclusion, which is why Christina Hammock Koch will be the first woman to orbit the Moonwhile Victor Glover will be the first person of color.
“For the first time in more than 50 years, these individuals, the Artemis II crew, will be the first humans to fly near the Moon. Among the crew are the first woman, the first person of color and the first Canadian on a lunar mission, and the four astronauts will represent the best of humanity.”
From NASA they have wanted to make it very clear that, although the four astronauts will be the most visible faces of Artemis II, behind there is a team made up of thousands of people who dedicate efforts so that humanity returns to closely explore its natural satellite.
“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 experience of the 4 astronauts who will orbit the Moon
Some of the Artemis II astronauts already have previous experience in space travel. For example, him Commander Reid Wiseman He was part of Expedition 41 that was on the International Space Station between May and November 2014. At that time, yes, he was a flight engineer.
victor gloverFor his part, he was in charge of piloting SpaceX Crew-1 during 2021. He spent 168 days at the Internationality Special Station together with Expedition 64. In Artemis II he will also be the pilot who will take the crew to orbit the Moon .
The specialist Christina Hammock Koch He will also live his second trip to space. Previously he played the same role on Expeditions 59, 60 and 61 of the International Space Station. In fact, she is the woman with the record for the most days in space (328). Her next mission will be recorded in the history of humanity.
Finally, the Canadian Jeremy Hanson He is the only one who will travel to space for the first time. “He was a colonel in the Canadian Armed Forces and a former fighter pilot. Hansen has a Bachelor of Science in Space Sciences from the Royal Military College of Canada and a Master of Science in Physics from the same institution, with a research focus,” he mentions.
Norm Knight, NASA’s director of Flight Operations, said the idea was to create a group of experts in different fields due to the multiple challenges of the Artemis II mission.
“They are exactly what an astronaut corps should be: a combination of highly capable individuals, with the skills and determination to face any test as a team. The Artemis II mission will be challenging and we will test our limits as we prepare to take future astronauts to the Moon. With Reid, Victor, Christina and Jeremy at the controls, I have no doubt that we are ready to take on any challenge that comes our way.
If nothing happens along the way, Artemis II could take off during the spring 2024. Of course, it is not ruled out that, due to complications in the Artemis I tests, the mission will be made to wait longer.