Photo by: Josh Valcarcel/NASA
Representation still matters!
On Monday, NASA and the Canadian Space Agency announced the identities of the astronauts who will travel to the moon on the Artemis II mission.
“The Artemis II crew represents thousands of people working tirelessly to bring us to the stars. This is their crew, this is our crew, this is humanity’s crew,” Bill Nelson, NASA Administrator stated. “NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Hammock Koch, and CSA astronaut Jeremy Hansen, each has their own story, but, together, they represent our creed: E pluribus unum – out of many, one. Together, we are ushering in a new era of exploration for a new generation of star sailors and dreamers – the Artemis Generation.”
Three NASA astronauts, Christina Koch, Victor Glover, and Reid Wiseman are a part of the four-person crew, along with Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen.
Photo by: Jonathan Newton/The Washington Post via Getty Images
The goal of the Artemis II mission, according to NASA, is to evaluate the “foundational human deep space capabilities” of the Space Launch System rocket and the crewed Orion spacecraft.
The purpose of the 10-day mission, which won’t start until the end of 2024, is to “stress the Orion spacecraft’s life-support systems to prove the capabilities and techniques required to live and work in deep space in ways only humans can do.”
Photo by: MARK FELIX/AFP via Getty Images
Victor Glover, a 46-year-old U.S. Navy aviator with four spacewalks under his belt, will accompany Koch, Wiseman, and Hansen on the mission. He will fly the first ever lunar mission as a Black astronaut.
Koch, who will also make history as the first woman to be selected as a mission specialist for the Artemis II mission.
She currently holds the record for the longest continuous spaceflight by a woman and participated in the first three all-female spacewalks conducted by NASA.
Please join us as we congratulate each astronaut on this huge accomplishment. We can’t wait to see the efforts of the Artemis II crew!
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