NASA is set to first crewed mission to the lunar vicinity in more than 50 years with the Artemis II mission, which is scheduled for launch tomorrow, April 1, 2026. Four astronauts are on the Crew of the Orion spacecraft, including three from NASA – Reid Wiseman (Commander), Victor Glover (Pilot), and Christina Koch (Mission Specialist) – and one (Mission Specialist) from Canada, Jeremy Hansen. As the crew flies past the moon, the flight will serve as a test of the operation of deep-space life-support systems aboard the Orion spacecraft, while also holding a unique Official Flight Kit that includes items from around the world and seeds from trees that grew from seeds brought back to Earth by the Apollo missions to plant on the Moon in the future. This kit symbolically links the Earth with the new era of sustainable exploration of the Moon, while providing historical connections to the Earth’s past through cultural artefacts. The mission would be marked as the best example of humanity sending humans to the moon
NASA’s Artemis II crew for historic Moon mission
Reid WisemanReid Wiseman was selected as a NASA astronaut in 2009 and is a US Navy Captain and highly decorated naval aviator who has extensive experience in combat and flight test operations. Wiseman served as a flight engineer on board the International Space Station (ISS) for Expedition 41, during which he lived on board for 165 days while conducting more than 300 scientific experiments. In addition, Wiseman was the Chief of the Astronaut Office from 2020 to 2022, where he managed astronaut training and flight assignments for the entire agency. As the Commander of Artemis II, Wiseman will bring his Navy and NASA leadership to lead the first crewed mission to the lunar vicinity in more than 50 years and will ensure the mission successfully validates the Orion spacecraft’s performance.Victor Glover Victor Glover is an F/A-18 pilot and US Navy Captain with over 3,000 hours of flight experience, including 24 combat missions. He has earned multiple higher degrees – a master’s degree in military operational art and science and a master’s degree in flight test engineering – and made history as the pilot of the SpaceX Crew-1 mission to the International Space Station (ISS) as the first crewed commercial flight. During his 168 days of orbiting the Earth, he completed 4 spacewalks and was involved in a critical technology demonstration. Glover will be the first person of colour to fly beyond low Earth orbit as the pilot of NASA’s Artemis II mission, using his technical proficiency to perform manual piloting trials required to validate Orion’s behaviour in deep space.Christina KochIn 2013, NASA chose Christin Koch as a member of their astronaut team, who works as an electrical engineer and has set multiple world records in outer space. Among these achievements, she has broken the record for the longest single spaceflight by a woman (328 days on the International Space Station) and has been a part of the three all-female spacewalks in history. While living and working in Antarctica and Greenland remote research stations, Koch gained experience as an engineer at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center before joining the astronaut corps. Christina Koch’s engineering background, coupled with her experience working with long-duration life support systems and remote field engineering, will benefit her in serving as Mission Specialist for the upcoming Artemis II mission, where she will become the first woman to fly around the Moon, assisting with monitoring the lunar spacecraft’s environmental systems during the mission’s 10-day duration from Earth to Moon and back.Jeremy HansenColonel Jeremy Hansen, an RCAF (Royal Canadian Air Force) fighter pilot, has been a member of the Canadian Space Agency since 2009. Colonel Hansen has not flown into space before, but he has a long-standing reputation for being a leader in the international astronaut community. Previously, Colonel Hansen served as a Capcom on numerous International Space Station missions and was a NASA astronaut candidate class leader.Colonel Hansen’s selection further signifies the strong international partnership between NASA and the Canadian Space Agency, including Canada’s significant contribution through the Canadarm3 robotic arm. Additionally, as Mission Specialist, Colonel Hansen makes history as the first person from outside the United States to travel beyond low-earth orbit. In this regard, Colonel Hansen represents the global nature of the Artemis Program and is responsible for ensuring that this mission achieves all of its international scientific objectives while testing the survival systems that will ultimately be used for landing future crews on the Moon.
Artemis II Mission: Personal items list astronauts will carry to the Moon
Wright Flyer Fabric: One square inch of muslin fabric from the original Wright Flyer is provided in this kit. This 1-inch by 1-inch piece of fabric flew aboard Space Shuttle Discovery in 1985.Legacy American Flag: The American flag presented in this kit is 13-by-8-inch in size. Its place in history is significant due to having flown during both the first (STS-1) and last (STS-135) Shuttle missions, as well as SpaceX Demo-2.View a full list of the items included in the kitApollo 18 Commemorative Flag: Included in this kit is the commemorative flag that was originally to be flown during Apollo 18. Its significance comes from the fact that it now serves as a symbolic bridge between an era (Apollo) that has concluded and one (Artemis) that is continuing.Ranger 7 Photo Negative: Included with the kit is a 4-by-5-inch image (photo negative) of the first close-up images of the Moon’s surface taken by Ranger 7 in 1964.Artemis I Moon Tree Soil: The final item in the kit is a collection of soil taken from all 10 NASA centres that house the ‘Moon Trees’. The seeds from which these trees were grown were aboard the uncrewed Artemis I mission.
