The identity of the American and Canadian astronauts who will make up the crew of the Artemis 2 mission must be revealed at 5:00 p.m. this Monday from the NASA center in Houston, Texas.
They will be the first humans to travel to the Moon, without landing there, since the last Apollo mission in 1972. The 41 “active” astronauts are officially eligible to be part of Artemis 2. The selection process is kept top secret.
A woman among the crew?
Among the favorites stands out Gregory Reid Wiseman, a 47-year-old American. A former fighter pilot, he has already spent six months aboard the ISS and previously served as director of NASA’s astronaut office.
But this new mission could also be an opportunity for NASA to send the first woman and the first person of color to the Moon, when the Apollo program had landed 12 men, all white.
“There is Christina Koch, who is an absolutely remarkable woman, an engineer, who has done 328 days of spaceflight and six spacewalks, so we are at Thomas Pesquet level for Americans,” says Gilles Dawidowisz, vice president of the Astronomical Society for France on BFMTV.
A moon landing in 2025
The Artemis 2 launch date is currently scheduled for November 2024. The mission will last about ten days.
Unselected astronauts may feel comfortable hoping to be selected for Artemis 3, which will be the first mission to land on the Moon scheduled for late 2025.
Source: BFM TV
