NASA has named a crew of astronauts who will venture to the moon, marking the first time in over fifty years that such a team has been assembled. Since the last moon mission, Apollo 17, in 1972, humans have not explored beyond a few hundred miles off the planet. NASA’s Artemis program aims to change this by putting humans on Mars while utilizing the moon’s resources to answer questions about the solar system’s formation.
Unlike the astronauts during the Apollo program, who were all American white men and test pilots, the current team reflects a much wider diversity of society. Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch, all NASA astronauts, will be joined by Jeremy Hansen from the Canadian Space Agency. Glover notes that, in the past, NASA aimed to select the same person multiple times.
Koch’s inclusion on the team marks the first time a woman will venture beyond low-Earth orbit, while Hansen will be the first non-American to travel that far. During the announcement of the team at Ellington Field, a small airport used by NASA for astronaut training, Koch expressed her excitement and asked the crowd if they were excited as well, prompting cheers in response.
The upcoming mission is a crucial part of NASA’s Artemis program, aimed at sending astronauts to explore the cold regions near the moon’s south pole and eventually returning humans to the moon’s surface. This mission represents a significant step in that direction.
The areas of deep dark craters near the moon’s south pole contain water ice, which could provide essential resources such as water and oxygen for future astronauts, as well as fuel for missions that extend further into space.
Bill Nelson, NASA’s administrator, emphasized the importance of the mission and the agency’s vision to explore beyond the moon and Mars, stating “Together, we are going — to the Moon, to Mars, and beyond.”
However, the four astronauts aboard the Artemis II mission will not land on the moon. Instead, they will embark on a ten-day journey that will take them around the moon before returning to Earth. This mission is scheduled for late next year.
