Artemis II is due to depart in late 2024 to fly around the Moon. Other missions to the Moon were staffed only by white men. In total, four astronauts were chosen by NASA for the new journey.
Astronauts Victor Glover and Christina Hammock Koch will be the first black man and the first woman on a mission to the Moon — Photo: Carmen Mandato/Getty Images/AFP
For the first time, a woman and a black man were chosen to participate in a trip to the Moon organized by. Christina Hammock Koch will be the mission specialist and Victor Glover will be the pilot of the Artemis II mission, which will launch in late 2024 to fly around the Moon. Both are astronauts and have worked at NASA for 10 years.
The names of the participants in the new journey were announced by the US space agency this Monday (3). In other missions to the Moon, the crew was composed only of white men. Christina and Victor’s choice is part of a promise by NASA to bring more diversity to space exploration.
This is the first trip to the Moon since the last Apollo mission, in 1972. The astronauts are yet to land on the natural satellite. Also part of the mission is Reid Wiseman and Jeremy R. Hansen (continue reading the report to learn more about the next missions to the Moon).
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NASA reveals who will be the first woman and the first black man on a lunar mission
Get to know the trajectory of the two astronauts who will make history on the way to the Moon next year:
Christina is 44 years old, was born in Michigan, in the Midwest of the United States, and grew up in the state of North Carolina. She is the woman who stayed the longest continuous time in space so far: 328 days;
- In 2019, she participated in the first female spacewalk, alongside astronaut Jessica Meir, and in five other spacewalks, totaling 42 hours and 15 minutes of inactivity.
At NASA, she was a flight engineer on the International Space Station (ISS) on three expeditions, contributing to “hundreds of experiments in biology, Earth science, human research, physical sciences, and technological development”, says the US space agency.
Christina holds a degree in electrical engineering and physics and a master’s degree in electrical engineering. Before becoming an astronaut, his career focused on developing space science instruments and remote field science engineering.
Christina Hammock Koch was selected as a NASA astronaut in 2013 – Photo: Nasa/Disclosure
Victor is 46 years old and was born and raised in California, in the United States. He joined the NASA astronaut corps in 2013.
- Made its first spaceflight in 2020;
- He was the first black man to participate in a long-term mission (six months) aboard the International Space Station (ISS).
Before joining NASA, he was a test pilot for the US Navy and was a member of the US Senate Legislature. Accumulated 3,000 flight hours in more than 40 aircraft, more than 400 interrupted landings on aircraft carriers, and 24 combat missions.
- On Artemis II, scheduled for the end of 2024, the four astronauts will take off on NASA’s SLS rocket – the most powerful in the world – and will travel aboard the Orion capsule, attached to the top of the rocket;
- The capsule will detach once in space and take you to the Moon, but without landing;
- The release date is expected in November 2024;
- The feat of landing again on the Moon will be reserved for Artemis III, which will be the first manned mission of the space agency to land on our natural satellite since 1972;
- NASA intends to make history with the program and land the first woman and the first non-white person on the lunar surface in that phase.
