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NASA unveiled the first crew of astronauts that will travel to the moon since 1972. Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch of NASA will travel together with Jeremy Hansen of the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) on a trip around the moon, potentially reaching the farthest point any human has flown into space.
As part of a mission called Artemis II, the quartet of astronauts will follow a similar path in their Orion spacecraft that an unoccupied capsule took last fall when Orion and NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) blasted off on an inaugural test flight.
The mission will last approximately 10 days, during which the crew will not land on the moon, but instead follow a trajectory that allows Orion and its European-built service module to conduct multiple maneuvers that will raise and lower its orbit throughout the mission, with the craft ultimately relying on Earth’s gravity to pull the astronauts home after they fly around the moon.
The launch is targeted for late 2024, with Wiseman serving as the mission’s commander, Glover the pilot, and Koch and Hansen as mission specialists. This mission will also mark the first time that a Canadian has ventured to the moon and back.
“Reid, Victor, Christina, and Jeremy, each of these adventurers has their own story. But together, they represent our creed: E pluribus unum — out of many, one,” NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said. “Together, we will usher in a new era of exploration for a new generation of star sailors and dreamers — the Artemis Generation.”
The flight will mark the first time that both the SLS and the Orion spacecraft will fly a crew. As such, this is a precursor to Artemis III and Artemis IV, which will culminate with astronauts walking on the lunar surface sometime this decade. But before they can do that, the crew of Artemis II has to put the vehicles through their paces and ensure that Orion can safely transport crew to the moon and back.
