US space agency NASA has today (April 3) announced the names of the four intrepid astronauts who will be flying to the moon, 54 years after Neil Armstrong took one giant leap for mankind.
The joint Artemis II project between NASA and the Canadian Space Agency will see three Americans. Victor Glover, Christina Hammock Koch and Reid Wiseman, and one Canadian, Jeremy Hanson, take flight.
NASA said at a media event at the Johnson Space Centre's Ellinton Field in Houston, Texas, that Reid Wiseman will be commander, Victor Glover as pilot, Christina Hammock Koch as mission specialist one and Jeremy Hansen as mission specialist two.
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The Artemis II mission, which is expected to launch into space in November 2024, will be the first crewed mission on NASA's path to establish a long-term presence at the moon for science and exploration.
The mission will see the first woman and first person of colour eventually go on to step onto the surface of the moon itself.
The intrepid mission will see the four brave astronauts performing a flyby of the moon before returning to Earth, and will be the first manned mission to travel to the moon, or beyond low Earth orbit, since Apollo 17 in 1972.
The team will travel for around 10 days in an attempt to prove NASA’s Orion spacecraft's life-support systems and also look into the capabilities and techniques necessary for humans to live and work in deep space.
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Artemis II is the second part of a long series of increasingly complex space missions, as part of NASA’s drive to put humans on the moon.
Artemis I, which launched in November 2022, marked NASA's return to lunar exploration and saw an unmanned vessel performing a lunar flyby.
Artemis III plans to fly four astronauts to the moon in 2025, while Artemis IV plans to be the second lunar landing in 2027.
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Only 12 human beings, all men and no women, have ever walked on the Moon.
"Under Artemis, we will explore the frontiers of space and push the boundaries of what's possible," said Vanessa Wyche, director of NASA's Johnson Space Centre.
"You may walk on the moon or be one of the many explorers who venture onward to Mars. We're all looking forward to you being a part of our mission."
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