Who’re the 4 astronauts on Artemis II?
Reid Wiseman, the mission commander, is a former US Navy pilot and check pilot. He grew to become a Nasa astronaut in 2009 and spent 165 days on the Worldwide House Station (ISS) in 2014.
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The ship’s pilot is Victor Glover, who lived on the ISS from November 2020 to Could 2021 and was additionally the pilot of SpaceX Crew-1. He would be the first Black astronaut to fly on a Moon mission and holds three grasp’s levels.
Mission specialist Christina Koch holds the document for the longest single spaceflight by a girl (328 days) after changing into an astronaut in 2013. She may even be the primary girl to journey across the Moon.
The opposite mission specialist on the crew is Jeremy Hansen, who will turn into the primary Canadian to go to the Moon. He beforehand lived underwater for seven days as a part of his aquanaut work with Nasa.
Standing on the shoulders of giants.
Because the Artemis II crew prepares for launch no sooner than April 1, they lately took a second to pay homage to the Apollo 10 crew and the groundwork they laid for the Artemis II Moon mission. pic.twitter.com/uP8LpIDkcp
— NASA Artemis (@NASAArtemis) March 31, 2026
Artemis II flight replace: How lengthy does it take to get to the Moon?
The Artemis II crew are resulting from fly across the Moon on 6 April. The unmanned Artemis I flight, the predecessor to this yr’s mission, reached the Moon on day six of its mission in 2022.
Apollo 8 presently holds the document for being the quickest crewed mission to the Moon after taking slightly below three days – 69 hours and eight minutes. It was additionally the primary crewed flight to orbit the celestial physique.
Unmanned objects can attain the Moon extra shortly, with Nasa’s New Horizon’s probe passing the moon in eight hours and 35 minutes when it departed for Pluto in 2006, although it did not method lunar orbit.
Liftoff.
The Artemis II mission launched from @NASAKennedy at 6:35pm ET (2235 UTC), propelling 4 astronauts on a journey across the Moon.
Artemis II will pave the way in which for future Moon landings, in addition to the subsequent large leap — astronauts on Mars. pic.twitter.com/ENQA4RTqAc
— NASA (@NASA) April 1, 2026
NASA’s Artemis II Crew Launches To The Moon: Watch the Official Broadcast
Artemis II flight replace: How does Artemis II match into Nasa’s Moon plans?
The Artemis I mission came about in 2022, and noticed Nasa’s mega moon rocket – the House Launch System – and the Orion capsule fly for the primary time on a 25-day mission across the Moon. However there have been no people onboard.
For Artemis II, astronauts are very a lot on the entrance and centre of the mission. The crew would be the first folks to fly within the SLS and Orion as they journey across the Moon. Their mission will final about 10 days.
Artemis IV will see astronauts land on the lunar floor – Nasa says by 2028. Nevertheless that is an formidable timeline. A lander needs to be chosen, constructed and examined, and there are delays with the spacesuit that the long run Moonwalkers will put on.
In later Artemis missions there are plans for a lunar house station known as Gateway that can orbit across the Moon, in addition to the development of a Moon base.
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Artemis II flight replace: Why has Nasa despatched astronauts to circle the Moon?
Greater than 50 years have handed since America’s Apollo missions landed people on the Moon for the primary time in July 1969. And, whereas Nasa’s Artemis II crew will not make a lunar touchdown themselves, their mission over the subsequent 10 days will to pave the way in which for the subsequent human footsteps on the Moon.
Throughout their journey the 4 astronauts will fly 6,400 miles (10,299km) past the far facet of the Moon, which all the time faces away from the Earth – marking the primary time this has taken place.
Nasa says that in this three-hour interval, the crew will “analyse and {photograph} geologic options, resembling influence craters and historic lava circulation”, which can assist future missions to discover the Moon’s South Pole area.
Research on the astronauts’ well being may even assist Nasa to raised perceive how deep house journey influences the human thoughts and physique, defending astronauts on future lunar missions in addition to journey to Mars.
If the crew move safely across the Moon on this journey, Nasa’s purpose is for Artemis IV and V to turn into lunar touchdown missions – and is aiming for each to occur in 2028.
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