These are the four Artemis II astronauts leading the historic return to the Moon

American patriot The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is about to write a new chapter in the history of space exploration. The agency is preparing to launch Artemis IIThis is a mission that will mark the return of manned flights around the moon after more than half a century.

In addition to its artistic significance, the project is distinguished by the inclusion of a crew that symbolizes a new stage in terms of representation: it will include the first woman, the first black person, and the first non-American astronaut to travel to the lunar environment.

The names of the members were announced just over three years ago. At the time, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said: “The Artemis 2 crew represents the thousands of people working tirelessly to take us to the stars. This is the crew of humanity. Each has their own story, but together they embody our credo: One of manyOr “Out of many, one.”

After several postponements, the launch is scheduled to take place on April 1. According to NASAAbout eight minutes after liftoff, the Orion spacecraft and its passengers will have arrived in space. The mission will then orbit around the Earth before beginning its path toward the Moon. It is estimated that the spacecraft will reach a distance of 6,450 to 9,650 kilometers from the surface of the moon before returning and falling into the ocean.

The mission will last about 10 days. During this period, the team will evaluate the performance of Orion’s life support and operations systems, which are critical for future missions. These checks are essential to NASA’s schedule, which calls for astronauts to return to the moon’s surface by 2028.

Historical crew of the Artemis II mission

The mission will be led by American astronaut Reed Wiseman. The crew is completed by his compatriots Victor Glover and Christina Koch, in addition to Canadian Jeremy Hansen. The agency is confident that the accumulated experience, technical skills and professional background of the four specialists will be crucial to the success of the mission, which is considered an essential step towards the goal of sending humans to Mars.

Reid Wiseman

Courtesy of NASA

Born in Baltimore, Weissman is a 27-year veteran of the U.S. Navy. A decorated naval aviator and test pilot, he will command Artemis II. He holds a bachelor’s degree in computer and systems engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, a master’s degree in systems engineering from Johns Hopkins University, and a certificate in space systems from the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California.

He was selected as an astronaut in 2009, and made his first spaceflight in 2014 aboard a Russian Soyuz capsule bound for the International Space Station. During that 165-day mission, he served as a flight engineer and performed 13 hours of spacewalks in two EVA flights. He and his team participated in more than 200 experiments related to human physiology, medicine, physical sciences, earth sciences, and astrophysics.

Despite his extensive career, Weisman considers his greatest challenge to be becoming a single father of two children, an experience he also describes as the most rewarding of his life.

Victor J. Glover

Courtesy of NASA

Glover, a native of Pomona, Calif., has a long career as a naval aviator, with experience in combat and flight testing. He holds a bachelor’s degree in general engineering from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and completed his training as a naval aviator in 2001. Since then, he has accumulated more than 3,500 flight hours in 40 types of aircraft, including 24 combat missions and more than 400 aircraft carrier landings.

He joined NASA in 2013 and, after completing his training, served in key ground roles as capsule communications officer and operations officer for the Soyuz and Crew Dragon missions. His first trip to space was in 2020 as the pilot of the SpaceX Crew-1 mission, the first long-duration operational mission to the International Space Station aboard a Crew Dragon spacecraft. On that occasion, he spent 168 days in orbit, made four spacewalks, and participated in a variety of scientific and maintenance activities.