‘Fly me to the moon’: Artemis II crew announced

On Monday, April 3 NASA and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) announced the first crew to fly in the Orion spacecraft, atop the Space Launch System (SLS) as part of the Artemis II mission.

Among the crew is the first woman and first person of color to fly to the moon.

Building upon the successful Artemis I mission, Artemis II will return humankind to lunar orbit for the first time in 50 years.

The crew of NASA’s Artemis II mission includes NASA astronauts commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, mission specialist 1 Christina Hammock Koch and CSA astronaut mission specialist 2 Jeremy Hansen.

Paving the way for lunar surface missions, the crew will get a boost on the Space Launch System – the only human-rated rocket capable of carrying crew and cargo to the moon in a single launch. Read more on the announcement and crew, here.

“Together we will usher in a new era of exploration for a new generation of star sailors and dreamers – the Artemis generation. Together we are going to the moon, to Mars and beyond,” said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson.

The 10-day Artemis II mission is a crewed test flight of the SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft to test and stress the spacecraft’s life-support systems.

 “Human spaceflight is like a relay race – passed generation to generation and crew member to crew member. We understand our role in that and when we have the privilege to have that baton and we’re going to do our best to make you proud. We’re hopeful we will serve as a beacon of peace not just in the world but in our own nation,” said Glover.

NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket – the nation’s next-generation, human-rated rocket – will enable NASA’s Artemis program and will carry people and cargo to the moon, Mars and beyond. Boeing was selected by NASA to design, develop, test and produce the core stages, upper stages, and avionics suite for the SLS fleet of rockets. The first SLS rocket – featuring the Boeing-built Core Stage – successfully launched at 1:47 AM ET on November 16, 2022, as part of the Artemis I Mission. Production is currently underway for the Boeing-built core stages, upper stages (including Exploration Upper Stage) and avionics for future Artemis missions.