NASA announces four astronauts for Artemis II mission around the moon

NASA has selected four crew members to travel around the moon in its Artemis II mission, planned for late 2024: Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen

By Leah Crane

3 April 2023

The crew of the Artemis II mission (left to right): Christina Koch, Reid Wiseman (seated), Victor Glover and Jeremy Hansen

NASA

NASA has selected the astronauts for its Artemis II mission, which is planned for late 2024. This mission will take the four crew members in a figure of eight around the moon, the first time humans have visited the moon since the Apollo 17 mission in 1972.

The mission’s commander will be Reid Wiseman, who was NASA’s chief astronaut until November 2022 – meaning it is likely he was in charge of selecting the crew for Artemis II. He has been to space once before, travelling to the International Space Station (ISS) in 2014.

Victor Glover will be the pilot. He flew to the ISS aboard SpaceX’s Crew-1 mission in 2020, the first operational mission of the commercial crew programme, and is a test pilot by trade.

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There will be two mission specialists, a catch-all position for astronauts not commanding or piloting missions. The first is Christina Koch, who holds the record for the longest space flight by a woman – she spent 328 days in space from 2018 to early 2019. The second is Jeremy Hansen, one of four active Canadian astronauts. He will be the only crew member making his first flight to space on Artemis II.

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Return to the moon: Why are we restarting human lunar exploration now?

“Human space flight is like a relay race, and that baton has been passed from generation to generation, and from crew member to crew member,” said Glover during the announcement. “When we have the privilege of having that baton, we will do our best to run a good race.”