NASA Announces Timeline To Return to the Moon

(NewsReady.com) – In July 1969, Apollo 11 landed on the Moon. It was the first time NASA astronauts completed a mission to the mysterious rock in the sky. In the following years, five more missions made it to its surface. The last manned mission was in 1972 — more than 50 years later, NASA plans to head back.

On Monday, April 3, the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) and NASA held an event at Ellington Field near Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. Officials announced the names of the four astronauts who will fly around the Moon on Artemis II. The members who will man the flight are Mission Specialist 2 Jeremy Hansen, Commander Reid Wiseman, Mission Specialist 1 Christina Hammock Koch, and Pilot Victor Glover.

NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said the four crew members each have a personal story to tell, “but, together, they represent our creed: E pluribus unum – out of many, one.”

Here they are. @SenBillNelson announces the #Artemis II crew, the next astronauts to fly around the Moon:@Astro_Christina @Astro_Jeremy @AstroVicGlover @Astro_Reid

We go together. https://t.co/XdUizg2Wye pic.twitter.com/6Yo4I2lKeJ

— NASA (@NASA) April 3, 2023

The space mission will last about 10 days. The historic flight will reportedly set the stage for the first woman, first Canadian, and person of color to land on the Moon. According to the announcement, the Artemis II flight builds on the unmanned Artemis I flight that was completed in December 2022. They are part of a mission to build toward long-term exploration of the moon.

For three of the astronauts — Wiseman, Glover, and Koch — the mission will be their second flight into space. Hansen, who is a colonel in the Canadian Armed Forces, will go up for the first time. François-Philippe Champagne, the minister who oversees the CSA, called the mission an “exciting journey.” The minister called it a “defining chapter” of Canada’s space history but also a “testament” to the two country’s close relationship.

Norm Knight, NASA’s director of Flight Operations, said that he is very proud of the crew. He said they will “kickstart our journeys to the Moon and beyond.”