NASA and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) announced the four astronauts who will venture around the moon on Artemis II. This will be the first crewed mission on NASA's path to establishing long-term moon science and exploration development. The agencies revealed the crew members on Monday, April 3, 2023, during an event at Ellington Field near NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. Three of the four crew members are amateur radio operators.

"The Artemis II crew represents thousands of people working tirelessly to bring us to the stars. This is their crew, this is our crew, this is humanity's crew," said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson. "NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Hammock Koch, and CSA astronaut Jeremy Hansen, each has their own story, but together, they represent our creed: E pluribus unum - out of many, one. Together, we are ushering in a new era of exploration for a new generation of star sailors and dreamers - the Artemis Generation."

The crew will work as a team to execute an ambitious set of demonstrations during the flight test.

Their assignments are as follows: Commander Reid Wiseman, KF5LKT, Pilot Victor Glover, KI5BKC, Mission Specialist 1 Christina Hammock Koch, and Mission Specialist 2 Jeremy Hansen, KF5LKU. Koch had planned to study and take her amateur license exam in 2019, but her flight was suddenly rescheduled 6 months earlier than originally planned. She had to immediately begin preparing for her flight instead of studying.

The Artemis II mission is scheduled to launch in November 2024. The approximately 10-day flight test 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.

For more information, visit the NASA website.