POT finally selected the astronauts who will carry out the Artemis II mission, which aims to return humans to orbit the moon after more than 50 years. There will be four of them: Americans Victor Glover, Christina Hammock Koch and Reed Wiseman, as well as Canadian Jeremy Hansenwhich represents the space agency of his country.
Times and society have changed significantly since NASA launched the first lunar missions, and this has also been reflected in the chosen astronauts. Artemis II is committed to inclusiveness, so Christina Hammock-Koch will be the first woman to fly around the moon.and Victor Glover would become the first person of color.
“For the first time in over 50 years, these people, the Artemis II crew, will be the first people to fly near the moon. Crew members include the first woman, the first person of color and the first Canadian to make a lunar mission, and the four astronauts will represent the best of humanity.”
NASA wanted to make clear that while the four astronauts would be the most prominent faces of Artemis II, behind the back is a team of thousands of people who are making efforts to ensure that humanity returns to a thorough study of its natural satellite.
“The Artemis II crew is made up of thousands of people who work tirelessly to get us to the stars. This is your team, this is our team, this is the team of humanity.”
The experience of 4 astronauts who will fly around the moon
Some of the Artemis II astronauts already have space travel experience. For example, he Commander Reed Wiseman He was part of Expedition 41, which was on the International Space Station from May to November 2014. At the time, yes, he was a flight engineer.
Victor GloverFor his part, he was responsible for piloting the SpaceX Crew-1 through 2021. He spent 168 days on the Internationality Special Station with Expedition 64. In Artemis II, he will also be the pilot that will take the crew to orbit the Moon.
specialist Christina Gamak Koch He will also live out his second trip to space. He previously played the same role on Expeditions 59, 60 and 61 of the International Space Station. In fact, she holds the record for the most days in space (328). His next mission will go down in human history.
Finally, Canadian Jeremy Hanson He is the only one to fly into space for the first time. “He was a colonel in the Canadian Forces and a former fighter pilot. Hansen holds a bachelor’s degree in space science from the Royal Military College of Canada and a master’s degree in physics from the same research institution.
Norm Knight, NASA’s director of flight operations, said the idea was to create a panel of experts in different fields due to the many challenges of the Artemis II mission.
“They are exactly what astronaut teams should be: a combination of highly capable individuals with the skills and determination to take on any challenge as a team. The Artemis II mission will be challenging, and we will test our capabilities as we prepare to take future astronauts to the moon. With Reid, Victor, Christina and Jeremy at the helm, I have no doubt that we are ready to take on any challenge that comes our way.
If nothing happens along the way, Artemis II can take off while flying. spring 2024. Of course, it is possible that due to complications in the testing of Artemis I, the mission will be made to wait longer.
Source: Hiper Textual
