NASA announces that astronauts will fly by the moon in 2024

OAN Brooke Mallory
UPDATED 6:28 PM – Monday, April 3, 2023

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has revealed that a team of four astronauts will launch on a crucial test voyage to slingshot around the moon next year, paving the way for the agency’s eagerly anticipated return to the lunar surface.

NASA Administrator James Bridenstine stated that the space agency would be making a return to the moon and these efforts would officially be called the Artemis program.

Many have questioned why it has taken NASA about 50 years to decide to go back. The last time a human set foot on the moon was in 1972.

“It was the political risks that prevented it from happening… The program took too long and it cost too much money,” Bridenstine said.

Their first lunar mission, Artemis I, launched last year in November. However, NASA’s massive Space Launch System rocket and Orion capsule were launched on an unmanned journey. Mannequins equipped with sensors were part of the first Artemis I flight, and they were used to track radiation levels and mission conditions. After spending a few weeks in lunar orbit, the spacecraft was finally brought back to Earth.

NASA announced the crew for its upcoming Artemis II voyage at a ceremony in Houston, Texas. Christina Hammock Koch, Victor Glover, Reid Wiseman, and Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen will be the chosen NASA astronauts to embark on the voyage.

“The Artemis II crew represents thousands of people working tirelessly to bring us to the stars… This is their crew. This is our crew. This is humanity’s crew,” NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said.

The crew will orbit the moon to evaluate the Orion spacecraft’s capabilities before heading back to Earth.

If the upcoming Artemis II mission is successful, NASA says the next crew to set foot on the moon will historically comprise the first woman and person of color (POC) for future missions.  

“This mission paves the way for the expansion of human deep space exploration and presents new opportunities for scientific discoveries, commercial, industry and academic partnerships, and the Artemis Generation,” said Director Vanessa Wyche of NASA’s Johnson Space Center.  

The flight of the Artemis II will be led by Wiseman. He was a test pilot for the U.S. Navy before being chosen to join NASA as an astronaut in 2009. Glover, a retired captain from the Navy, will fly the mission. He became an astronaut in 2013 and since then has taken part in SpaceX Dragon spacecraft’s second voyage to the space station. Koch and Hansen will act as mission specialists. After spending a total of 328 days in orbit on board the space station, Koch broke the record for the longest single spaceflight by a woman in 2020.

Hansen was selected by the Canadian Space Agency to join their crew of astronauts in 2009. This is where he would eventually be discovered by NASA and asked to join the American space agency’s efforts. As the first Canadian to visit the moon, the former fighter pilot will go down in lunar exploration history.

“We are going back to the moon and Canada is at the center of this exciting journey… Thanks to our longstanding collaboration with NASA, a Canadian astronaut will fly on this historic mission. On behalf of all Canadians, I want to congratulate Jeremy for being at the forefront of one of the most ambitious human endeavors ever undertaken. Canada’s participation in the Artemis program is not only a defining chapter of our history in space but also a testament to the friendship and close partnership between our two nations,” said François-Philippe Champagne, the Canadian Space Agency minister.

With the Artemis missions, NASA aims to employ cutting-edge technologies to delve deeper than ever before into the lunar surface. In cooperation with international and commercial partners, they claim they will eventually establish