NASA announces the astronauts who will take part in its historic mission to the moon

(CNN) – NASA announced Monday the four astronauts — three Americans and one Canadian — who will orbit the moon next year on the Artemis II mission, which will return humans to the deepest part of the solar system in five decades.

The mission commander is Reed Wiseman, a 47-year-old decorated naval pilot and test pilot who was first selected to be an astronaut at NASA in 2009. Wiseman was the head of the Astronaut Office until November 2022. Although the president can’t fly while working You get better flying missions when you leave the job, which is a “recognized advantage” of the job, according to former NASA astronaut Garrett Reisman.

The pilot is Victor Glover, a 46-year-old naval aviator who returned to Earth from his first spaceflight in 2021 after commanding the second crewed flight of the SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft and spending nearly six months aboard the International Space Station. The veteran of four spacewalks earned a master’s degree in engineering while serving as a test pilot.

The expedition specialists are Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen.

Koch, 44, has completed six spacewalks. She holds the record for the longest spaceflight by a woman, totaling 328 days in space. Koch is also an electrical engineer and has helped develop science instruments for multiple NASA missions. She also spent a year at the South Pole, a grueling sojourn that could well prepare her for the intensity of a mission to the Moon.

Hansen, 47, was selected to be an astronaut for the Canadian Space Agency nearly 14 years ago, and this will be his first spaceflight mission. The 47-year-old fighter pilot recently became the first Canadian tasked with training a new class of astronauts for NASA.

“The mission to the Moon will launch four astronauts, but it will carry more than just astronauts,” NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said in a statement. “Artemis 2 will carry the hopes of millions of people around the world. It will carry the aspirations of the NASA family who look at the moon every night knowing their efforts will get us back to the moon. It will carry the dreams of the students who are burning tabs in libraries and laboratories, preparing to one day support the Artemis mission.”

The mission is scheduled to launch in November 2024.