Meet The Astronauts Who Will Fly To The Moon 50 Years After The Last Human Landings

NASA and the Canadian Space Agency named the four astronauts who will be part of their Artemis II mission on Monday.

What Happened: NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Hammock Koch, and CSA astronaut Jeremy Hansen shall be part of the 10-day Artemis II mission around the Moon, NASA said in a statement.

Wiseman will serve as Commander, Glover as Pilot, Koch as Mission Specialist 1, and Hansen as Mission Specialist 2. While Artemis II would be the second space flight for Wiseman, Glover and Koch, it will be the first for Hansen, a former fighter pilot.

The Artemis missions are NASA's attempt to extend human existence to the Moon and beyond, to Mars.

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“For the first time in more than 50 years, these individuals – the Artemis II crew – will be the first humans to fly to the vicinity of the Moon. Among the crew are the first woman, first person of color, and first Canadian on a lunar mission, and all four astronauts will represent the best of humanity as they explore for the benefit of all,” said NASA Johnson Director Vanessa Wyche in the statement.

The four chosen astronauts will be aboard the Orion Spacecraft and will be the first humans to venture farthest from the Earth's low earth orbit since NASA's Apollo 17 mission in 1972. Artemis II is scheduled for November 2024.

The first Artemis mission, formerly Exploration Mission-1, was an unmanned moon-orbiting mission.

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Photo courtesy: NASA