Artemis II crew includes first woman, Black astronaut, and Canadian ever flown to moon

All three NASA astronauts on the Artemis II lunar mission are veterans of Earth-orbit science expeditions to the International Space Station, while the lone Canadian joining them on a voyage around the moon and back is a spaceflight rookie.

Here are some highlights from the careers of mission commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover and mission specialist Christina Koch, all US astronauts, and Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen, also a mission specialist.

Mission Commander Reid Wiseman

Wiseman, 50, logged 165 days aboard the International Space Station during a 2014 mission, flying to the orbiting platform aboard a Russian Soyuz spacecraft. A former US Navy test pilot, he later served as NASA’s chief astronaut before being selected to command Artemis II.

Pilot Victor Glover

Glover, 49, spent 168 days in orbit beginning in 2020 as pilot of NASA’s Crew-1 flight, the first full-fledged ISS mission using SpaceX’s Crew Dragon capsule to carry astronauts to the space station. Before joining NASA, he flew more than 40 aircraft during a U.S. Navy career that included combat deployments and test-pilot duties. A veteran of four spacewalks, he is the first Black astronaut ever to be sent on a lunar mission.

Mission Specialist Christina Koch

Koch, 47, set a record in 2019 for the longest continuous spaceflight by a woman, spending 328 days aboard the ISS, and was part of NASA’s first three all-female spacewalks. Trained as an electrical engineer and physicist, she previously worked as a NASA engineer and carried out extended research expeditions in Antarctica. She is the first woman to fly on a moon-bound mission.

Mission Specialist Jeremy Hansen

Hansen, 50, a Royal Canadian Air Force colonel, is the first Canadian, and first non-US citizen, sent on a lunar mission even as he makes his own first spaceflight. He was selected for Canada’s astronaut corps in 2009, and his seat aboard Artemis II reflects a long-standing US–Canadian partnership in human spaceflight, including Canada’s contributions to robotics used aboard the ISS.

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– Rappler.com