The Artemis II Mission
Apr 07, 2023
We have accomplished amazing feats in the world of space exploration, and with NASA’s Artemis II Mission, that great work is continuing. The immediate goal of the Artemis II Mission is to test NASA’s Orion spacecraft and to explore the surface of the moon in greater depth than has been done in the past using innovative technology. The long-term goal of these missions is to use the knowledge obtained from these lunar explorations and work with global partners to send the first astronauts to Mars!
The Artemis II Mission will be 10 days long. NASA’s goal is to build an Artemis Base Camp in the lunar south pole around the Shackleton Crater. The base camp will include a lunar cabin, a rover - a vehicle designed to move across the surface of the Moon - and a mobile home. Though the Base Camp is set to be created for all Artemis missions, NASA’s goal is to continue to expand this camp so that eventually, astronauts can stay here for up to two months. As with the long-term goal of the mission itself, creating a base camp will also give insight into ways we can send humans to explore Mars.
Let’s meet the 4 astronauts - including the first woman and the first person of color to go to the moon - who are set to head on their mission in November 2024!
Reid Wiseman has been named Commander of the Artemis II mission. He served as Flight Engineer during a 165-day mission aboard the International Space Station, known as Expedition 41. This expedition included 13 hours of spacewalking, as well as 82 hours of research in a single week!
Victor Glover is the Pilot of the Artemis II and will be the first Black person to head to the Moon. He has been an astronaut since 2013. Some of his missions included serving as pilot and second-in-command on the Crew-1 SpaceX Crew Dragon Resilience. Glover was also named Flight Engineer for Expedition 64 aboard the International Space Station.
Christina Hammock Koch is a Mission Specialist for Artemis II, and will be the first female to go to the Moon. Like Glover, she became an astronaut in 2013. She has served as Flight Engineer aboard the International Space Station multiple times, including for Expeditions 59, 60 and 61. She holds the record for the longest spaceflight - 328 days - completed by a female.
Jeremy Hansen will also serve as a Mission Specialist for Artemis II. Unlike his crewmates, he is a Canadian Space Agency (CSA) astronaut, and will be the first Canadian to go to the Moon. Hansen began his journey in aviation in 1988 with the 614th Royal Canadian Air Cadet Squadron in Ontario. During his aviation career, he served as a fighter pilot and earned his Bachelor’s degree in Space Science. He graduated from astronaut training in 2011. He was also a crew member of NEEMO19, where he worked on the ocean floor in Key Largo, FL for seven-days to simulate deep space exploration. Talk about an exciting career!
It is amazing to consider the ways in which missions have advanced from when we first set foot on the Moon in July 1969 to today. We are now using space exploration to research ways to send humans to another planet! This is sure to be an exciting mission to follow and one to watch closely in order to learn more about our solar system. The information the astronauts will obtain from these missions will fuel future missions - those which may even be completed by some of our current students, who knows! Be sure to follow the Artemis Missions’ journeys for groundbreaking research in this very important field of STEM.
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