
April 1 (Reuters) - All three NASA astronauts on the Artemis II lunar mission are veterans of Earth-orbit science expeditions to the International Space Station, while the lone Canadian joining them on a voyage around the moon and back is a spaceflight rookie.
Here are some highlights from the careers of mission commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover and mission specialist Christina Koch, all U.S. astronauts, and Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen, also a mission specialist.
MISSION COMMANDER REID WISEMAN
Wiseman, 50, logged 165 days aboard the International Space Station during a 2014 mission, flying to the orbiting platform aboard a Russian Soyuz spacecraft. A former U.S. Navy test pilot, he later served as NASA's chief astronaut before being selected to command Artemis II.
PILOT VICTOR GLOVER
Glover, 49, spent 168 days in orbit beginning in 2020 as pilot of NASA's Crew-1 flight, the first full-fledged ISS mission using SpaceX's Crew Dragon capsule to carry astronauts to the space station. Before joining NASA, he flew more than 40 aircraft during a U.S. Navy career that included combat deployments and test-pilot duties. A veteran of four spacewalks, he is the first Black astronaut ever to be sent on a lunar mission.
MISSION SPECIALIST CHRISTINA KOCH
Koch, 47, set a record in 2019 for the longest continuous spaceflight by a woman, spending 328 days aboard the ISS, and was part of NASA's first three all-female spacewalks. Trained as an electrical engineer and physicist, she previously worked as a NASA engineer and carried out extended research expeditions in Antarctica. She is the first woman to fly on a moon-bound mission.
MISSION SPECIALIST JEREMY HANSEN
Hansen, 50, a Royal Canadian Air Force colonel, is the first Canadian, and first non-U.S. citizen, sent on a lunar mission even as he makes his own first spaceflight. He was selected for Canada's astronaut corps in 2009, and his seat aboard Artemis II reflects a long-standing U.S.–Canadian partnership in human spaceflight, including Canada's contributions to robotics used aboard the ISS.
(Compiled by Joey Roulette in Cape Canaveral, Florida and Steve Gorman in Los Angeles; Editing by Jamie Freed)
LATEST POSTS
- 1
JFK's granddaughter Tatiana Schlossberg reveals terminal cancer diagnosis - 2
Step by step instructions to Get a good deal on Your Rooftop Substitution Venture - 3
Scientists train to dive beneath polar ice as climate change warms the Arctic and Antarctica - 4
Prehistoric wolf’s gut frozen in time reveals an ice age giant - 5
What's changing about healthcare in 2026 — Medicare, Medicaid, ACA, premiums, and enrollment deadlines
10 times the sky amazed us in 2025
Navy-Marine Corps Relief Society provides emergency grants to families displaced by Iran war
Health Rounds: Regeneron drug wipes out residual multiple myeloma cells in small trial
6 Travel Services for Colorful Get-aways: Pick Your Fantasy Escape
Dirty soda started as a Mormon alternative to booze. Now it's everywhere.
Newly Identified ‘Lucy’s Hunter’ Was a 15-Foot Crocodile Lurking in Ancient Ethiopia
The beauty advent calendar boom is here. Sephora kids are all in.
Crypto Investor’s Family Tied Up and Beaten by Armed Gangs in Their Home
Iran-backed Iraqi militias attack Kurdistan over 450 times since beginning of war












