NASA has introduced the four astronauts who will travel to lunar orbit for the first time in the past 50 years. During an event at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, the names of the four astronauts who will be part of the crew of Artemis 2 have been revealed. The crew, made up of three astronauts fromNASA and a Canadian Space Agency astronaut, includes the first woman and also the first black man to travel to the moon.

Christina Koch, 44 (NASA) who holds the record for the longest individual spaceflight by a woman. He was born in Michigan and has spent 328 days in space since joining NASA in 2001. Victor Glover, 46 years old (NASA), a naval aviator who made his first spaceflight in 2021. It spent 168 days in orbit and participated in four spacewalks. He has a university education in engineering and will be the first pilot of an Orion, in this case flying around the moon.

Both will be accompanied by Jeremy Hansen, 47, who is facing his first mission in space. He is an astronaut for the Canadian Space Agency. The fourth crew member is Reid Wiseman, also 47, who served as NASA’s chief astronaut.

The launch of Artemis 2 is scheduled for the end of 2024. The four astronauts will attempt to complete a lunar orbit aboard the Orion capsule and then return to Earth. The mission will lift off from Kennedy Space Center and embark on a four-day trip to the Moon. The crew will then perform the “lunar flyby”, an orbit of the Moon without landing, before the further four-day return trip. The mission will end with re-entry into Earth’s atmosphere and a plunge into the Pacific Ocean.