The Artemis 2 team will make history by going to the moon for the 25th–28th
time.
TEXAS CITY — After more than 50 years, NASA has selected its first
astronaut team headed to the moon.
The four scientists who will travel on the Artemis 2 mission to orbit the moon were revealed by the space agency on Monday, April
3. After the Apollo mission, the team is anticipated to be the first to
travel to the moon.
The mission experts Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen are part of the
Artemis 2 team, along with the commander Reid Wiseman and pilot Victor
Glover. An arrangement between the United States and Canada allows Hansen,
an astronaut with the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), to launch. He will launch
from Earth orbit and travel to the moon first by a non-American.
The Artemis 2 crew was revealed on Monday at a gathering at Ellington
Field, where NASA's aircraft activities are based close to Houston's Johnson
Space Center. Nearly every active astronaut, minus the three who are
presently onboard the International Space Station, attended the event with
NASA Administrator Bill Nelson and other agency officials. (ISS).
Each of these intrepid travelers, Reid, Victor, Christina, and Jeremy, has
a unique tale to tell. But taken as a whole, they stand for our motto, "E
pluribus unum, out of many, one," Nelson said. "Together, we will usher in a
new era of exploration for the Artemis Generation, a new generation of star
sailors and dreamers."
Wiseman, Glover, Koch, and Hansen are scheduled to launch in late 2024
onboard NASA's Orion spacecraft atop an SLS missile from Pad 39B at the
Kennedy Space Center in Florida. After the
unmanned Artemis 1 test flight in 2022, it will be only the second time that both the spacecraft and rocket will
launch together. It will also be the first time that both will travel with
humans on board.
The 10-day Artemis 2 mission will pursue a hybrid free return route rather
than orbiting or touching down on the moon. In order to raise its orbit
around the Earth and ultimately put the crew on a lunar free return route,
Orion will use its European-built service module to execute a number of
maneuvers. After passing by the moon, Earth's gravity will then draw the
spacecraft back to Earth naturally.
The crew will try their manual control of Orion by using the top stage of
the SLS—known as the intermediate cryogenic propulsion stage, or ICPS—as a
target for proximity operations before departing Earth orbit for the
moon.
Before departing for the moon, the team will try the spacecraft's life
support, communication, and navigation devices. The Artemis 2 team will
journey 6,400 miles (10,300 kilometers) beyond the far side of the moon and
pass within 6,479 miles (10,427 kilometers) of the lunar surface. They will
be able
to see Earth and the moon from Orion's windows
from this viewing position,
farther into deep space than any person has ever ventured.
Orion will splash down in the Pacific Ocean off the shore of California at
the conclusion of the Artemis 2 mission, where U.S. Navy ships and NASA
crews will be waiting to meet and retrieve the crew and spacecraft. If the
journey is successful, NASA will be prepared for Artemis 3, the first
mission to bring people back to the lunar surface, with the first American
woman and the second American
scheduled to arrive at the moon's south pole as early as late 2025.
Now that the Artemis 2 crew has been chosen, NASA will start training
classes with them individually as well as integrating them with the mission
control team that will oversee the operation from the ground as the launch
date approaches. The Artemis 2 SLS core stage's five main components were
all integrated by engineers in March. At the Kennedy Space Center, where
they are being readied for launch or are waiting to be piled as part of the
launch vehicle, the Orion spacecraft, its European service module, the ICPS,
and the SLS solid rocket components are already present.
The 41 NASA astronauts and 4 CSA astronauts who are currently in the active
ranks were chosen to make up the four Artemis 2 crew members. The choice was
made by Vanessa Wyche, director of the Johnson Space Center, Norm Knight,
chief of the flight operations department, and Joe Acaba, chief of the astronaut office.
Three seasoned space travelers are part of the team, and one will be making
his first flight for Artemis 2.
Wiseman, 47, flew to the ISS in 2014 and completed his first journey there,
spending 165 days in Earth orbit. He was chosen in 2009 for NASA's 20th
astronaut class. A native of Baltimore, Maryland, and veteran combat pilot
for the U.S. Navy. Wiseman most recently held the position of director of
NASA's astronaut program from 2020 to 2022(opens in new page).
We are going is one of the three phrases that we frequently repeat in the
Artemis program, and I want everyone to utter it.
NASA hired Glover, 46, as an astronaut in 2013. He served as the captain of
SpaceX's
first operational crewed mission
(Crew-1) and spent 167 days on the International Space Station in 2021. He
is an engineer and a commander in the United States Navy. He was born in
Pomona, California. The first Black scientist to work on a space station
team was Glover.
Glover declared, "We have a lot to enjoy, and it goes far beyond the four
identities that have been revealed. Because Artemis II is more than a
journey to the moon and more than a task that must be completed before
sending humans to the moon's surface, we should commemorate this significant
moment in human history. It is the following stage of the expedition that
brings people to Mars.
"Human spaceflight is like a relay run, with the baton being handed from
crew member to crew member on the Mercury, Gemini, Apollo, Skylab,
Apollo-Soyuz, Mir, space shuttle, International Space Station, private crew,
and now the Artemis flights. And we are aware of our part in it. We will do
our best to run a decent race to make you pleased when we have the honor of
carrying that baton, he said.
Koch, 44, was reared in Jacksonville, North Carolina, but was born in Grand
Rapids, Michigan. Koch, a member of NASA's 21st astronaut class chosen in
2013, established a mark for the
single-longest journey
by a woman onboard the International Space Station at 328 days. She also
participated in the
first-ever all-female spacewalk
during that 2019 visit. Koch, a previous station director for the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), is an engineer.
"My colleagues astronauts are aware that 'Are you excited?' is one of the
frequently asked queries we receive. And I'll tell you, am I thrilled when I
think about this mission? Without a doubt," Koch said. "I want to know, are
you excited?"
In 2009, the 47-year-old Hansen was selected to join Canada's astronaut
program. He was born in London, Ontario, and is a colonel in the Royal
Canadian Air Force. Even though Artemis 2 will be Hansen's first trip to
space, he previously worked as an aquanaut on the Aquarius undersea station
and participated in the CAVES astronaut training program run by the European
Space Agency in 2013.
Hansen's position on Artemis 2 is related to the
"Canada-U.S. Gateway Treaty", a contract between NASA and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) under which
the latter will be responsible for managing and running all of the external
automation required to run the human-tended Gateway station, which is still
being constructed in lunar orbit. The agreement also calls for a Canadian
astronaut to join the team of a future Artemis mission and travel to the
Gateway.
Two things about the fact that a Canadian is visiting the moon make me
happy, said Hansen. "American leadership is the first. None of us are
unaware that the United States could decide to return to the moon on its
own. But over the years, America has made a very conscious decision to build
a worldwide team, and that, in my opinion, is real leadership.
He added, "Canada's can-do mentality is the second factor.
There are presently at least two other crewed lunar missions in
development, despite the fact that the Artemis 2 crew is NASA's first moon
crew revealed in more than 50 years and is anticipated to be the next to
travel there. Two privately financed spaceflights to orbit the moon using
SpaceX's Starship spaceship, which is currently in construction, have been
scheduled. SpaceX is NASA's collaborator for the Artemis 3 human landing
system (HLS or lunar lander).
Yusaku Maezawa, a Japanese millionaire, is funding the
dearMoon initiative, which selected its eight artists in December 2022. Dennis Tito, an
investor from the United States and the first "space tourist," announced his
and his wife's plans to ride on
SpaceX's second circumlunar
trip two months previously.Both missions' schedules are still being
prepared.
Wiseman, Glover, Koch, and Hansen would be the 25th through 28th people to
travel to the moon if Artemis 2 launched first. The Apollo 8 team,
consisting of Frank Borman, Jim Lovell, and William Anders, was the first
group of men to set foot on the moon in 1968.
NASA hopes that the Artemis mission will result in a long-lasting human
presence on and near the moon where astronauts can gain the knowledge and
skills necessary to transport humans to Mars.
