Going The Farthest: Meet The Four Astronauts On Nasa's Artemis Ii Moon Mission

The 3 NASA astronauts connected nan ngo are spaceflight veterans. Wiseman, who antecedently served successful nan Navy and became an astronaut successful 2009, spent six months aboard nan International Space Station successful 2014.

Reid Wiseman pinch his daughters. Courtesy Reid Wiseman

Since losing his woman successful 2020, Wiseman has been raising their 2 children connected his own. Being an astronaut, he said, puts a batch of accent and worry connected family members, and his excitement astir nan ngo is often tempered by feelings of selfishness for nan toll it takes connected loved ones.

“I’m a azygous begetter of 2 daughters,” he told NBC’s “TODAY” successful an question and reply pinch his chap unit members earlier this month. “It’d beryllium a batch easier conscionable to beryllium connected my sofa and watch shot for nan weekend, but astatine nan aforesaid time, there’s 4 humans that were put successful a position to beryllium capable to spell research and do thing that is very unsocial and uncommon successful this civilization.”

Wiseman added that he hopes nan result of nan ngo will warrant nan sacrifices his loved ones person made.

“We’ve ever looked astatine nan satellite and said, ‘We’ve been there.’ But for this full generation, for our generation, for nan younger generation, for nan Artemis generation, they’re going to look astatine nan satellite now and go, ‘We are there,’” he said.

Jeremy Hansen's pendants pinch his family’s commencement stones and nan words “moon and back”.Courtesy Jeremy Hansen

All 4 astronauts scheme to bring mini tokens and mementos connected their formation astir nan moon. Wiseman and Koch said they each scheme to transportation letters from their families. Glover said he is bringing a Bible, his wedding rings and heirlooms for his daughters. For Hansen, it’s a satellite pendant pinch his family’s commencement stones and nan words “moon and back” engraved.

Such items, having flown successful space, make for typical keepsakes and are a measurement for nan astronauts to see their family members successful nan journey.

Koch is nary alien to extended stints successful space, nor to historical firsts. She spent almost each of 2019 connected nan International Space Station — 328 days — nan grounds for nan longest azygous spaceflight by a woman. While there, Koch and chap astronaut Jessica Meir performed NASA’s first all-female spacewalk.

Christina Koch pinch her hubby and dog. Courtesy Christina Koch

She said she isn’t bothered that different awesome milestone — leaving bootprints connected nan lunar aboveground — will elude her.

“I will beryllium truthful excited to spot personification I cognize get assigned to beryllium nan personification and group to locomotion connected nan moon, but if it isn’t successful my abstraction destiny to do that, that’s conscionable good pinch me,” Koch said. (NASA has not yet named nan unit for nan Artemis III mission.)

Victor Glover and family.Courtesy Victor Glover

Glover, meanwhile, was connected nan first operational flight of SpaceX’s Crew Dragon capsule to nan abstraction position successful 2020. A U.S. Navy skipper and trial pilot, Glover was serving arsenic a legislative chap successful nan U.S. Senate erstwhile NASA recruited him. He was selected to go an astronaut successful 2013. Glover and his woman person 4 children.

Hansen, nan only unit personnel making his spaceflight debut, will besides clasp nan favoritism of being nan first Canadian to task to nan moon. Selected by nan Canadian Space Agency to go an astronaut successful 2009, he was antecedently a combatant aviator and colonel successful nan Canadian Armed Forces.

Hansen and his woman person 3 children. After years of training for this flight, he said, nan unit members person besides go “like a family astatine this point.”

Jeremy Hansen and family.Courtesy Jeremy Hansen

The Artemis II motorboat will beryllium conscionable nan 2nd outing for NASA’s Space Launch System rocket and Orion capsule. The first was nan uncrewed Artemis I formation astir nan satellite much than 3 years ago.

Wiseman, Koch, Glover and Hansen cognize nan formation is simply a captious stepping chromatic for nan Artemis III mission, which intends to onshore 4 astronauts adjacent nan moon’s southbound rod successful 2027. While successful space, nan unit will beryllium tasked pinch demonstrating docking procedures successful Earth’s orbit, conducting subject experiments and testing various systems aboard nan Orion capsule arsenic a benignant of proceedings tally for that early landing.

“For us, occurrence is boots connected nan satellite successful Artemis III,” Koch said. “Success is Artemis 100, whenever that is. And we really specify everything disconnected of that.”