Commander Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Hammock Koch and Jeremy Hansen are the four astronauts who will orbit the moon in 2024 as part of the Artemis 2 mission. The schedule calls for the crew to spend up to 21 days aboard an Orion capsule, which will spend about 42 hours in high Earth orbit before circling the moon and then returning to Earth for a water-landing in the Pacific Ocean.
The Artemis 2 crew consists of Christina Hammock Koch, Victor Glover, Reid Wiseman and Jeremy Hansen (left to right)
Crew will fly – if everything goes smoothly – in 2024
All selected astronauts have already completed a number of missions. Hammock Koch is best known for having the longest stay in space by a female astronaut. Wiseman, on the other hand, is a Navy pilot who was also a test pilot in the F-35 Lightning II program. Glover made history when he participated in the first operational Crew Dragon mission in 2021. Hansen is a fighter pilot and one of currently four Canadian astronauts.
If Artemis 2 stays on schedule, the crew will launch in November 2024. It is the first human flight to the moon since Apollo 17 in 1972. Artemis 1, the preparatory mission, was the unmanned counterpart. Artemis 1 was launched in November 2022 and broke an old Apollo flight record with its approximately 26-day journey.
How is this continuing?
Only with the launch of Artemis 3, which is planned for December 2025, will people land on the moon again.
This mission uses a variant of the SpaceX spacecraft for the actual landing. NASA recently demonstrated the space suits for this mission. Manufactured by Axiom Space, the prototype accommodates more body types and is more flexible, allowing the astronauts to kneel and perform other movements.
The crew selection comes at a time when NASA appears to have overcome all of the setbacks that have plagued its Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, including engine problems, fuel leaks, Hurricane Ian and Tropical Storm Nicole. Originally, the authority wanted to carry out an Artemis moon landing in 2024, but can now only use the time window in 2025.
- NASA Introduces Artemis 2 Mission Crew: Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Hammock Koch, Jeremy Hansen.
- Artemis 2 mission: 21 days aboard Orion capsule, 42 hours in high Earth orbit, orbit of the moon, water landing in the Pacific Ocean.
- All astronauts have experience in space.
- Artemis 1 mission: unmanned, 26-day journey, old Apollo flight record.
- Artemis 3 mission: space suits for more body types, flexible, kneeling and other movements possible.
- Setbacks for SLS rocket, Artemis moon landing not possible until 2025.
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