Skip to main content

NASA to reveal Artemis II crew for historic lunar trip

NASA will soon reveal the four lucky astronauts that will be sent on a flyby of the moon in the Artemis II mission.

The four crewmembers — three from NASA and one from the Canadian Space Agency — will be named on Monday, April 3, NASA chief Bill Nelson announced in a tweet on Thursday.

Related Videos

JUST IN: On April 3, we will reveal the crew for @NASAArtemis II!

Four crew members – three from @NASA & one from @csa_asc – will fly around the Moon. Together, they’ll test the @NASA_SLS rocket & the @NASA_Orion spacecraft. We are going! #StateOfNASA

— Bill Nelson (@SenBillNelson) March 9, 2023

Artemis II is currently targeted for November 2024 and will use NASA’s recently tested Space Launch System (SLS) rocket to power the crew toward the moon aboard an Orion spacecraft.

Following the same route as last year’s Artemis I mission that tested the new spaceflight hardware, the four astronauts will come within just 80 miles of the lunar surface in what will be the first crewed voyage to the moon in five decades. It will also fly humans further from Earth than ever before, to a point about 270,000 miles away.

If everything goes to plan, NASA intends to land the first woman and first person of color on the lunar surface as part of the Artemis III mission, which could take place within two years of Artemis II.

Both missions will take NASA and its counterparts another step closer to building a permanent astronaut base on the moon, paving the way for long-duration missions similar to how astronauts currently live and work aboard the International Space Station in low-Earth orbit.

The expectation is that research and development projects on the moon will help NASA prepare for the first crewed mission to Mars, which could take place in the 2030s. Crewed Mars missions could even launch from the lunar surface using a rocket powered by fuel converted from lunar water.

In related news, NASA also said that it will reveal its next-generation spacesuits in a special event on Wednesday, March 15.

The spacesuits, developed by Texas-based Axiom Space, will be worn by the Artemis III astronauts when they set foot on the lunar surface.

Using more than 50 years of spacesuit expertise, NASA created the technical and safety requirements for the new spacesuits. Axiom Space then worked with these guidelines to build the suits and associated support equipment.

“New spacesuits that allow humans to explore the lunar surface advance our capability for human exploration in space,” NASA said.

Editors' Recommendations

Watch NASA’s trailer for SpaceX’s Crew-6 astronaut launch
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying the Crew-4 astronauts launching from the Kennedy Space Center.

NASA and SpaceX are making their final preparations for the first crewed launch from U.S. soil to the International Space Station (ISS) since October 2022.

Traveling aboard the Crew Dragon Endeavour spacecraft early on Monday will be NASA astronauts Stephen Bowen and Warren Hoburg, United Arab Emirates astronaut Sultan Alneyadi, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev.

Read more
NASA, SpaceX delay Crew-6 launch to space station
SpaceX's Crew-6 astronauts.

Following a flight readiness review on Tuesday, NASA and SpaceX have decided to delay the Crew-6 launch to the International Space Station by about 24 hours.

The additional time will enable launch personnel to sort out some relatively minor issues with the launch vehicle, officials said.

Read more
NASA and Boeing set date for first crewed test flight of Starliner
The Boeing CST-100 Starliner spacecraft was moved into the Hazardous Processing Area at the company’s Commercial Crew and Cargo Processing Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Feb. 8, 2023, in advance of power up and fueling operations.

NASA has announced it plans to launch the first crewed test flight of the Boeing Starliner capsule this April. The spacecraft has been through a troubled development and testing process but aims to become a second U.S.-based crew transport vehicle along with the SpaceX Crew Dragon.

The Boeing CST-100 Starliner spacecraft was moved into the Hazardous Processing Area at the company’s Commercial Crew and Cargo Processing Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Feb. 8, 2023, in advance of power up and fueling operations. NASA

Read more