NASA promised Thursday that it would announce the names of the four astronauts who will circle the Moon next year as part of the Artemis 2 mission by April 3. The crew will consist of “three Americans and one Canadian,” it said. Bill. Nelson, the head of the space agency.
The launch date is currently scheduled for November 2024, a US space agency official said earlier in the week.
The four astronauts will board NASA’s SLS rocket, the most powerful in the world today. They will take place on top of this rocket in the Orion capsule, which will take off once in space and take them to the Moon, without landing there. The mission will last about ten days.
Top secret selection process
The SLS rocket has flown only once so far, during the Artemis 1 mission. It then propelled the empty Orion capsule to the Moon, during a test mission of just over 25 days. The capsule had successfully returned to Earth in December.
All “active” astronauts (there are currently 41) are officially eligible to be part of Artemis 2. But the selection process is kept secret.
Late last August, then-head of the astronaut office, Reid Wiseman, said he was looking mostly for technical expertise and team spirit among the lucky ones. He has since left his post and is among the eligible astronauts.
The new chief of astronauts, Joe Acaba, has just replaced him and is at the forefront of the decision-making process. Unselected astronauts may feel comfortable hoping to be selected for Artemis 3, which will be the first mission to land on the Moon.
It is officially scheduled for the end of 2025, although the schedule is very uncertain at the moment.
Source: BFM TV
