Press Release from the Armstrong Air & Space Museum: WAPAKONETA — On April 3, NASA announced their new crew for the upcoming Artemis II space mission. The crew will consist of Commander Reid Wiseman, Pilot Victor Glover, Mission Specialist Kristina Koch, and Canadian Mission Specialist Jeremy Hansen. The ten-day mission is expected to launch in late 2024, with the crew conducting a lunar flyby and testing systems for a lunar landing mission on Artemis III.
The mission is packed full of firsts, including the crew. Kristina Koch, who in 2019 took part in the first all-woman spacewalk, will become the first woman to fly the around the Moon. Naval aviator and test-pilot Victor Glover will be the first person of color to accomplish the same feat as well. London, Ontario native Jeremy Hansen will be the first non-American to fly into deep space, this being his first space mission as well. And the mission’s Commander, Reid Wiseman, will have a new record under his belt, becoming the oldest person to fly to the Moon. Wiseman, currently 47 years old, will beat Apollo 14 Commander Alan Shepard’s record of 47 years 80 days.
“This mission is the beginning of the next great chapter in human space exploration,” says Logan Rex, Armstrong Air & Space Museum Curator and Communications Director. “It’s been over fifty years since humans have left low-Earth orbit and traveled to the Moon. In the next few years, NASA’s Artemis program will send humans back to the lunar surface, including the first woman and first person of color. It is truly an exciting moment for space exploration.”
The crew will also be the first humans to ride aboard NASA’s new Space Launch System (SLS), the most powerful rocket ever built. The crew will be gliding through space in the newly developed Orion spacecraft, an updated and sleek new craft that, unlike the old Apollo command module, seats four instead of three.
“The Armstrong Museum will be ready for this mission and for when we land on the Moon again,” says Armstrong Executive Director Dante Centuori. “As one of the top space destinations in the State of Ohio and a leader in preserving America’s lunar heritage, we want to help share and be a part of this amazing next step in our space program.”
