A Grand Rapids native will be one of four astronauts who will venture around the moon on NASA’s Artemis II.
Monday morning, NASA announced Christina Koch was selected as the mission specialist for the Artemis II moon crew.
Meet the first member of our #Artemis II Moon crew: mission specialist @Astro_Christina!
— NASA (@NASA) April 3, 2023
Christina Koch visited the @Space_Station in 2019, where she took part in the first all-woman spacewalk. She began her career as an electrical engineer at @NASAGoddard. pic.twitter.com/mi82SayXUm
It marks NASA’s first crewed mission on its path to establishing a long-term presence at the moon.
According to NASA, the 10-day Artemis II flight will “launch on the agency’s powerful Space Launch System rocket, prove the Orion spacecraft’s life-support systems, and validate the capabilities and techniques needed for humans to live and work in deep space.”
Koch and three other astronauts will be the first to fly NASA’s Orion capsule and will launch from atop a Space Launch System rocket from Kennedy Space Center no earlier than late 2024.
The crew will not land on the moon but will fly around the moon and head straight back to Earth.
NASA says the mission will set the stage for the first woman and first person of color on the moon through the Artemis program, and pave the way for future long-term missions to the moon and eventually Mars.
Koch, a Grand Rapids native, served as flight engineer on the International Space Station for three expeditions.
She set a record for the longest single spaceflight by a woman with a total of 328 days in space and participated in the first all-woman spacewalk.
Joining Koch on the Artemis II flight will be Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Jeremy Hansen.
Jeremy Hansen will represent the Canadian Space Agency on the mission. Hansen currently works with NASA on mission operations and astronaut training, and this will be the former fighter pilot's first trip to space, NASA said.
The third astronaut named to the Artemis II mission has a lot of experience behind the controls. Victor Glover has reportedly logged 3,000 flight hours in more than 40 different aircraft, NASA stated. He will serve as the pilot the Orion spacecraft.
Reid Wiseman was named the mission commander. He previously worked as a flight engineer at the International Space Station and served as chief of the NASA Astronaut Office.
“For the first time in more than 50 years, these individuals – the Artemis II crew – will be the first humans to fly to the vicinity of the Moon. Among the crew are the first woman, first person of color, and first Canadian on a lunar mission, and all four astronauts will represent the best of humanity as they explore for the benefit of all,” said Director Vanessa Wyche, NASA Johnson. “This mission paves the way for the expansion of human deep space exploration and presents new opportunities for scientific discoveries, commercial, industry and academic partnerships and the Artemis Generation.”
