NASA is set to unveil its new class of astronaut candidates on Sept. 22 during a livestreamed event at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston.
Why it matters: The selected candidates, chosen from a pool of 8,000 applicants, will undergo approximately two years of rigorous training before becoming certified astronauts, qualified for future missions to the International Space Station, the Moon, and eventually Mars.
The details:
- The event will be broadcast on various platforms, including NASA+, Netflix, Amazon Prime, NASA’s YouTube channel, and the agency’s X account.
- In conjunction with the announcement, NASA will host several media briefings on Sept. 23 and Sept. 24 to provide detailed insights into the Artemis 2 mission.
- Artemis 2 is set to send four astronauts around the moon no earlier than April 2026.
- The Artemis 2 crew includes NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman (commander), Victor Glover (pilot), and Christina Koch (mission specialist), along with Canadian Space Agency astronaut and mission specialist Jeremy Hansen.
Glover will be the first Black astronaut to embark on a moon mission, Koch will be the first woman, and Hansen the first non-American.
What’s next: The announcement of the new astronaut class and the Artemis 2 briefings highlight NASA’s ongoing commitment to exploring beyond Earth’s orbit and pushing the boundaries of human spaceflight.
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