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

by | Apr 1, 2026 | Science

April 1 (Reuters) – 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 U.S. astronauts, and Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen, also a mission specialist.MISSION COMMANDER REID WISEMANAdvertisementAdvertisementWiseman, 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 U.S. Navy test pilot, ⁠he later served as NASA’s chief astronaut before being selected to command Artemis II.PILOT VICTOR GLOVERGlover, 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 KOCHAdvertisementAdvertisementKoch, 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 Antarctic …

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