The Artemis ll mission crew have been announced! The first crew to go back to the moon in 50 years!
Commander, Reid Wiseman
Reid Wiseman was named the commander of the mission. Selected as an astronaut in 2009, he first flew to the International Space Station (ISS) in May 2014 on the Soyuz TMA-13M mission. And served as part of the Expedition 40 and 41 crew, before returning to Earth in November of that same year.
Wiseman was selected to be the new Chief of the Astronaut Office on December 18, 2020, meaning that he would oversee assigning astronauts to missions.
Wiseman stepped down as Chief on November 14, 2022 to return to the active flight rotation. And was selected to be the commander of Artemis ll
Pilot, Victor Glover
The pilot of the mission Victor Glover was selected in the astronaut of 2013, in fall of 2020, as part of the first Crew Dragon. He became part of the Expedition 64 and 65 crew. Onboard the space station, Glover was able to complete 12 full hours in space. When he returned to Earth in February 2021, he was selected for 18 astronauts for the Artemis program. When Artemis ll leaves for the moon in 2024 he will become the first African American to go to the moon.
Mission Specialist 1, Christina Koch
Christina Koch was also part of the astronaut class of 2013, after waiting for almost six years she got her space flight on the mission. On March 14, 2019, Koch launched to the ISS as a Flight Engineer on Expedition 59, 60 and 61. On October 18, 2019, she and astronaut Jessica Meir were the first women to participate in an all-female spacewalk to replace a critical control unit that had broken. And on December 28, 2019, Koch broke the record for longest continuous time in space by a female. She returned to Earth in early 2020.
Koch will be the first female astronaut to go to the moon.
Mission Specialist 2, Jeremy Hansen
The last crew member, Jeremy Hansen, is very different from the rest of the crew. Unlike the rest of the crew members that are from NASA, an American government funded agency. He is from CSA, Canada’s government funded space agency. Another thing is he is the only first timer on the crew. The rest of the three astronauts are experienced in space flight. He will be the first international astronaut to go to the moon.