NASA announces crew for 'lunar flyby' Artemis mission

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has announced that U.S. astronauts Christina Koch, Victor Glover, Reid Wiseman and Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen will become the first individuals to circle the moon in nearly fifty years as NASA plans to return to Earth's sole natural satellite.

NASA Administrator Bill Nelson announced the crew roster for the Artemis 2 during a joint press conference on Monday with the Canadian Space Agency, Forbes reported. The rocket is scheduled for takeoff in November of 2024.

The Artemis missions aim to create humanity's first "long-term" presence on the moon. The earlier series of lunar missions, the Apollo missions, succeeded in placing men on the moon in 1969. The missions appear to derive their name from Greek mythology. Artemis and Apollo were the twin children of Zeus and Leto.

The Artemis 2 voyage will gather data for the later Artemis 3, which aims to return humans to the moon's surface. That mission is tentatively scheduled for 2025. NASA hopes that the renewed lunar missions will pave the way for human travel to Mars.

Ben Whedon is an editor and reporter for Just the News. Follow him on Twitter.