It’s Official: We Are Going Back To The Moon! The Crew Of Artemis II Will Be The First Deep Space Travelers In Over 50 Years

The next stage in NASA’s audacious journey to bring back people to the surface of the Moon is called Artemis II, and the space agency has just revealed the names of the four scientists who will serve on its team.

NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and record-breaking Christina Koch, along with Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen, have been named as the four new candidates selected today.

However, it will be the first crewed journey to go to the Moon in over half a century, and it will include the first woman and the first individual of color to go to the Moon. The mission will not land on the Moon, but Koch and Glover will also make history by becoming the first women and people of color, respectively, to journey to deep space.

“Together we will usher in new era of exploration for a new generation of star sailors and dreamers—the Artemis generation,” NASA Administrator Senator Bill Nelson said during the press conference.

After the successful test flight of Artemis I at the end of 2022, which included a circumnavigation of the Moon, work began on Artemis II. It is anticipated that the expedition will get underway some time in November 2024 and will last for a maximum of 21 days.

In addition, this will be the first flight with astronauts from launch Complex 39B at the Kennedy Space Center since the Space Shuttle Discovery in 2006.

Since Apollo 17 in 1972, no human spacecraft has traveled further than Artemis II will in the future. They plan to get as close to the far side of the Moon as 6,000 kilometers (10,000 kilometers) away from it.

The journey will be the first time that NASA’s megarocket, the Space Launch System (SLS), and the Orion spacecraft will be put through their paces with a crew on board.

Artemis I was plagued by many unavoidable delays, but the fact that the first test missions for both the SLS and Orion were successful proved that the wait was well worth it.

The Space Launch System (SLS) rocket was the most powerful rocket that has ever been launched, and its performance wasn’t just satisfactory; it was outstanding. It exceeded the many expectations that NASA and other organizations around the world had for it.

More than 161 test objectives were successfully accomplished by the Orion spacecraft, and due to the fact that it was performing so admirably, an additional 20 of those objectives were added during the journey.

The fact that the service module, which was constructed in Europe, generated 20 percent more power than was projected and used 25 percent less energy than was anticipated is very encouraging for future operations.

Artemis II will proceed with the testing of the rocket and capsule, but this time it will do so with a crew. This is because the systems have demonstrated that it is possible for humans to remain secure while they are on board.

Despite the fact that it did not land on the Moon, this mission will influence future missions that will land on the Moon as well as all other deep space crewed operations around the Moon.

Provided that Artemis II is a success, Artemis III will involve people landing on the south pole of the moon sometime between November 2025 and December 2025.