Four astronauts are set to embark on a historic 685,000-mile journey to the moon aboard the Artemis II rocket. The mission, scheduled for April 1, marks the first time humans have flown beyond low-Earth orbit since the Apollo 17 mission in 1972. Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen are among the crew members, bringing their unique expertise and experiences to the mission.
Christina Koch, a mission specialist, holds the record for the longest single spaceflight by a woman at 328 days. She previously served as Branch Chief of the Assigned Crew Branch in the Astronaut Office and did a rotation as Assistant for Technical Integration for the Center Director at NASA’s Johnson Space Center. Koch's experience spans both space science mission instrument development and remote scientific field engineering in the Antarctic and Arctic.
Jean-François 'Jeremy' Hansen, a colonel and CF-18 fighter pilot, is part of the Canadian Space Agency. He will become the first non-US astronaut to fly to the moon as part of the Artemis II crew. Hansen helped NASA with astronaut training and mission operations and has a background in deep space exploration.
