The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in collaboration with the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) announced on Monday April 3 the names of the four astronauts who will circle the Moon at the end of 2024 as part of of the Artemis II mission.

The crew members of the Artemis II are: Reid Wiseman (commander), Victor Glover (pilot), Canadian Space Agency member Jeremy Hansen and mission specialist Christina Koch.

The four experts will take off in November 2024 and plan to fly for ten days around the Moon in the Orion spacecraft, which had been successfully tested during the Artemis I mission.

NASA space engineer Jacky Silva Martínez spoke on the La Noche program about the first lunar mission in which a woman and an African American will participate.

“This trip is inspiring for everyone and that’s why we don’t want just one country to go,” the interviewee said.

Likewise, Martínez indicated that one of NASA’s objectives when returning to the Moon is “to obtain more information to travel to other planets”, since in his opinion, “it seeks to know the kind of technology and communication needed in the future.”

“Not only do we want to show that we can return to the Moon as humans, but also what we can learn and experience from the journey,” he said.

At the time, the guest explained that the role of astronauts during the trip is to “validate that all systems respect their due process”.

“We need to know if we can continue our missions (…) The ship in which the four crew members are traveling is the same as the one that served in Artemis I and is the most powerful for traveling in space”, did he declare.

Meanwhile, Martínez pointed out that, After reaching the Moon, “NASA’s goal is to be able to reach Mars”.

“We want to explore the far side of the Moon, we want to find out what’s new there,” he concluded.