NASA has unveiled the crew for its upcoming Artemis II mission, which will mark the first time in the history of our species that a male and female astronaut of color will venture beyond low-Earth orbit to visit lunar space.
It’s been more than 50 years since the Apollo 17 crew said goodbye to Earth’s moon. Since that final mission of the Apollo program, humanity has retreated back to our homeworld, allowing robotic pioneers to explore the wonders of the solar system as we proceed from the comparative safety of low Earth orbit.
But the coming decades may witness a radical shift in the status quo. NASA and its partners have decided that it is time again for humanity to walk on the Moon, establishing a permanent presence to test the technologies that will be required for a future manned mission to Mars.
Artemis II: Encounter with the Crew.
Earlier this week, NASA revealed the crew of four astronauts who will take humanity’s next steps in solar system exploration when the 10-day Artemis II mission launches into lunar space in late 2024.
The mission will lead Commander Reed Wiseman, who joined NASA’s class of 20 astronauts in 2009 after serving as a combat and test pilot for the US Air Force. Weisman has since completed a 165-day mission aboard the International Space Station (ISS), during which he served as a flight engineer on Expedition 41, spending nearly 13 hours of spacewalks.
Victor J. Meanwhile, he is given the task of piloting NASA’s Orion capsule. Glover accumulated more than 3,000 flying hours over the course of his military career, during which he served as a combat pilot and test pilot, while completing a Master of Science degree in systems engineering. As a NASA astronaut, Glover was present on the second operational flight of the Crew Dragon spacecraft, and he served a tour of duty aboard the International Space Station as part of Expedition 64.
Christina Hammock Koch He will occupy the third seat on the Orion capsule, serving as Mission 1 Specialist on the Artemis II mission. Koch did remote field work and space science instrument development during her early career, creating instruments for the Juno and Van Allen probes before completing astronaut training in 2015. Since then, Koch has flown aboard the Russian-made Soyuz spacecraft and spent 328 days aboard the ISS. . She holds the record for the longest spaceflight by a woman, and participated in the first women’s spacewalk.
Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen He will act as the Mission 2 specialist during the Artemis II mission. Hansen was a fighter pilot before completing astronaut training in 2011, after which he served at NASA’s Mission Control as mission support for Capcom. This will be Hansen’s first trip to space.
While the crew of the Artemis II will not have the honor of actually setting foot on the moon, they will nonetheless achieve a number of historic milestones for the human race. First and foremost, it will witness the first female astronaut of color, Victor Glover, and the first female astronaut, Christina Hammock-Koch, as they travel outside low-Earth orbit to visit lunar space.
Artemis II will also be the first crewed mission to use both the Orion capsule and NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) massive moon rocket. The 10-day outing will be used to test the capabilities of the European-built Orion capsule and service module ahead of the Artemis III mission, which will finally return humans to the surface of Earth’s moon.
The Artemis II crew represents the thousands of people who work tirelessly to get us to the stars. “This is their crew, this is our crew, this is humanity’s crew,” said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson. In a statement posted on the agency’s website.
NASA astronauts Reed Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Hammock-Koch, and CSA astronaut Jeremy Hansen each have their own story, but together they represent our credo: E pluribus unum—of many, one. Together, we usher in a new era of exploration for a new generation of mariners. And starry dreamers – the generation of Artemis.
NASA recently revealed a prototype of the next-generation spacesuit that will be used by astronauts walking on the moon during the planned Artemis III mission. Be sure to stick to IGN to stay up to date with all the latest news in the world of science.
Anthony is a freelance contributor covering science and video game news for IGN. He has more than eight years of experience covering breaking developments in multiple scientific fields and there is absolutely no time to fool you. Follow him on Twitter @BeardConGamer
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