Artemis 2’s four-person crew includes the first woman, first black man, and first Canadian to fly on a moon mission.
Four astronauts may soon board a spacecraft for NASA’s first manned moon mission in more than 50 years, during which they will fly farther than any deep space explorer to date.
The crew of the mission, known as Artemis 2, will travel up to 6,000 miles from the lunar surface and see parts of the moon’s far side that even the Apollo astronauts never saw.
And in the process, three of the four astronauts break the mold of space travel. Artemis 2’s crew will include the first black man, first woman, and first Canadian to fly on a moon mission.
Although the astronauts will not land on the moon during their 10-day journey, their mission will prove crucial in paving the way for humans to set foot on the moon as early as 2028 under NASA’s multibillion-dollar Artemis program. At launch, they will be the first astronauts to fly aboard the space agency’s Orion capsule, hitchhiking to a vehicle orbiting atop the towering Space Launch System.
Ahead of the launch of the Artemis 2 rocket, scheduled to lift off from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, on Wednesday, April 1, meet the astronauts selected for the mission.
Commander Reed Wiseman
Reed Wiseman, 50, a decorated veteran naval aviator, served two deployments to the Middle East and trained as a test pilot before being selected as a NASA astronaut in 2009.
Wiseman has been to space once again. In 2014, Wiseman spent nearly six months aboard the International Space Station, where he completed two spacewalks and helped the crew set a station record by completing 82 hours of research in one week.
Wiseman, a Baltimore native, lost his wife Carol Taylor Wiseman to cancer in 2020 and is a single father of two.
pilot victor glover
Naval aviator and test pilot Victor Glover, 49, piloted the Crew 1 mission to the International Space Station. The six-month mission, launched in November 2020, was the first mission to an orbital outpost after the Dragon crew capsule was certified for spaceflight under a partnership between NASA and SpaceX.
The mission was Glover’s first and only spaceflight since he was selected as a NASA astronaut in 2013.
Grover, a native of Pomona, California, has several master’s degrees and is married with four daughters.
Mission Specialist Christina Koch
Originally from Jacksonville, North Carolina, Christina Koch has already had a prolific and record-setting career as an astronaut.
Koch, who was first chosen to join Grover’s astronaut class, made history in 2019 by conducting the first all-female spacewalk on the International Space Station. On October 28, 2019, Koch was exposed to the vacuum of space in a suit for more than seven hours, along with astronaut Jessica Meir, who was once again at the outpost as part of the Crew-12 mission.
On her first and only mission to date, Koch spent most of 2019 in space, setting the record for longest spaceflight by an American woman at 328 days. Only three other NASA astronauts have participated in a single mission of longer duration than her.
Koch, 47, is also an avid amateur hobbyist, and his favorite activities include surfing and rock climbing.
Mission Specialist Jeremy Hansen
Canadian Jeremy Hansen, 50, will be the only member of Artemis 2’s crew to make his first journey into space.
Hansen, who has a background as a fighter pilot, was selected for astronaut training with the Canadian Space Agency in 2009. Among his qualifications, Hansen became the only Canadian to lead NASA’s astronaut recruitment group in 2017.
A husband and father of three, Hansen grew up on a farm in Ontario.
Eric Lagatta is a Space Connect reporter for the USA TODAY Network. Please contact elagatta@gannett.com.
