From Earth orbit to the Moon and Mars, explore the world of human spaceflight with NASA each week on the official podcast of the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. Listen to in-depth conversations with the astronauts, scientists and engineers who make it possible.
On Episode 421, NASA astronaut Andre Douglas and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jenni Gibbons discuss their roles as the Artemis II backup crew, including their training and mission support. The pair reflects on the historic flight around the Moon. This episode was recorded in April 23, 2026.
Transcript
Leah Cheshier
Houston We Have a Podcast. Welcome to the official podcast of the NASA Johnson Space Center Episode 421: Artemis II: Backup Crew. I’m Leah Cheshier, and I’ll be your host today. On this podcast, we bring in the experts, scientists, engineers, and astronauts, all to let you know what’s going on in the world of human spaceflight and more.
You’re likely familiar with the four astronauts who flew around the Moon as part of the Artemis II mission, Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Jeremy Hansen. But did you know there are two more critical members of their team who were ready to jump in at a moment’s notice? That’s NASA astronaut Andre Douglas and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jenni Gibbons, who trained with the crew and served as their backups. While they did not fly on the mission, they each had their own duties before and through the mission beyond serving as backups to help ensure success.
Joining me today to discuss selection, preparation and the Artemis II mission are Jenni and Andre themselves. We’ll talk through the training process, their roles during the flight, and their reflections now that the mission is a wrap.
Let’s do it.
Leah Cheshier
Andre and Jenni, thank you so much for coming on Houston We Have a Podcast today.
Jenni Gibbons
Thanks for having us.
Andre Douglas
Yeah, it’s a pleasure and an honor to be here.
Leah Cheshier
I’m excited to dive into a little bit about what you guys did as Artemis II backups, but I want to start kind of with your background. So, Andre you were selected in 2021 for the NASA astronaut class, and then you graduated in 2024. So can you tell us briefly about your selection, your time as an astronaut candidate?
Andre Douglas
Yeah, so that process was completely new to me, going through all the training and everything was a lot of fun. Had a lot of good classmates. It was just like, you know, go through a lot of training and learn how to do EVA, EVQ, do your robotics, do all the things you need to do to prepare for the space station. That’ …