​NASA has announced the names of four astronauts who will fly around the moon no earlier than the end of 2024 — without landing — and become the first people to get that far in 50 years. Three Americans and one Canadian will fly for ten days in the Orion capsule.

Who are the four astronauts of the Artemis II mission?

Four: Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Reid Wiseman (Americans) and Jeremy Hansen (Canadian). Among the four is a black astronaut, but also a woman, since we are talking about prizes for a mission to the moon. A Canadian citizen was also elected for the first time.

• Christina Koch he is 44 years old, he is an electronic systems engineer. She holds the record for the duration of a woman’s stay in space (328 days). In October 2019, together with his colleague Jessica Meir, he made a “spacewalk” (an extravehicular exit into outer space, the first time such an exit was carried out by an all-female crew).

• Reid Wiseman He is 47 years old, was a pilot in the US Navy and was on a mission to the International Space Station in 2015.

• Victor Glover He is 46 years old, was a test pilot in the US Navy, flew his first space mission in 2020 and is the first black astronaut to stay on the International Space Station for a long six-month mission.

• Jeremy Henson He is 47 years old and was a fighter pilot in the Royal Canadian Air Force before joining the Canadian Space Agency. He no longer flew space missions.

About the mission of Artemis II

The Artemis II mission is due to launch in November 2024, but delays could easily occur due to the complexity. The mission should last ten days, and the farthest point from Earth will be at a distance of 370,000 km.

The unmanned Orion capsule arrived at a distance of about 400,000 km from Earth in the fall of 2022 as part of the Artemis I mission. The International Space Station orbits at a distance of 420 km from Earth.

The four astronauts were selected from 41 astronauts who were eligible for the mission.

In Greek mythology, Artemis is the twin sister of Apollo and a goddess associated with the Moon.

NASA’s goal is to establish a long-term, sustainable presence on the Moon by building a base on its surface and a space station in its orbit.

Only the Artemis 3 mission will bring humans to the surface of the Moon for the first time since 1972. Artemis III will launch at least 12 months after Artemis II, most likely in 2026.

The Artemis III program is set to send the first woman and the first black person to the moon, while the Apollo program sent 12 men, all white, to the moon.