The Artemis team members pose for a photo at an event during which NASA announces the crew of the Artemis II space mission to the moon and back in Houston, Texas, U.S., April 3, 2023. Photo Credit: REUTERS/Go Nakamura

Society USA21. April 2023

First Woman and First African American to Hop on Board the Next Trip to the Moon

The first crewed voyage to the Moon in more than 50 years will have a woman and an African American man on board, a double first in NASA’s history, making it another kind of giant leap for mankind.

“The Artemis II crew represents thousands of people working tirelessly to bring us to the stars. This is humanity’s crew,” explains NASA Administrator Bill Nelson. “We are going.”

Artemis II’s mission specialist is engineer Christina Koch, 44, who took part in NASA’s first three all-female spacewalks. She holds the record for the longest continuous spaceflight by a woman. Victor Glover, 46, has been named Artemis II’s pilot. The first Black astronaut to be sent on a lunar mission is a U.S. Navy aviator with four spacewalks under his belt. They join mission commander Reid Wiseman, 47, former U.S. Navy fighter pilot, and mission specialist Jeremy Hansen, 47, the first Canadian to participate in a lunar mission. During their 10-day mission, the four-member crew will venture 10,300 km beyond the far side of the Moon, and 370,000 km away from our home planet. In comparison, the International Space Station sits about 402 km above the Earth. The goal of the Artemis program is to successfully establish a sustainable outpost on the Moon as a stepping stone for future human exploration of Mars. Should this mission succeed, it will be followed by Artemis III which will operate an unprecedented landing on the Moon’s south pole with astronauts, one of them a woman.

Source:
Reuters

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