All Active NASA Astronauts Are Now Eligible for Future Moon Missions

During a information briefing on the Johnson Space Center on Friday, a NASA official revealed that each one lively NASA astronauts are eligible to participate within the Artemis Moon program, no matter age.

“The way I look at it, any one of our 42 active astronauts is eligible for an Artemis mission,” Reid Wiseman, chief astronaut at NASA, mentioned on Friday, according to SpaceNews. “We want to assemble the right team for this mission.” This is an surprising change of plans for the area company, which hailed a choose crew of astronauts for its Artemis program earlier in December 2020 (although beneath earlier NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine). “I give you the heroes of the future who will carry us back to the Moon and beyond,” then Vice President Mike Pence mentioned in the course of the unveiling of the Artemis Team.

The Artemis Team included 9 girls, reflecting NASA’s want to land the primary lady on the Moon as a part of the Artemis 3 mission (at present scheduled to launch no sooner than 2025). Among the crew members have been Christina Koch and Jessica Meir, who took half within the first all-female spacewalks, in addition to Jessica Watkins, the primary Black lady to to embark on a longterm mission in area and the primary to dwell and work on the ISS. 

At the time, nevertheless, NASA did emphasize that this was an preliminary crew of astronaut candidates who might go to the Moon as a part of the Artemis 2 and three missions, and that extra candidates can be added later. But now, the area company appears to be leaning in the direction of protecting the Artemis seats open to all of its present astronauts, in addition to 10 further astronauts who’re nonetheless in coaching. “We have 42 active astronauts here in Houston and 10 astronaut candidates who will be beating down the door for Artemis 2 and beyond,” Wiseman mentioned in the course of the briefing. Wiseman added that each one NASA astronauts will qualify for Artemis no matter age, saying it doesn’t matter in the event that they’re of their late twenties or mid-sixties.

In December 2021, NASA chosen its most up-to-date class of astronaut candidates who started their two 12 months coaching in January 2022. After finishing their coaching, the candidates will every be assigned a mission, which may now embody the Artemis missions to the Moon.

NASA is at present gearing up for the inaugural launch of Artemis 1, which may occur as quickly as August 29. A Space Launch System rocket is slated to ship an uncrewed Orion capsule on a 272,000-mile (437,000-kilometer) journey to the Moon and again. Artemis 2 will embody a crew, however gained’t land on the Moon. That’s the job of the Artemis 3 crew, reaching the lunar floor after greater than 50 years. The Artemis program is designed to keep up a daily astronaut presence at and across the Moon, so it’s seemingly that many extra astronauts will probably be added to this record sooner or later.

More: NASA’s Artemis Era Could Officially Begin in Just 6 Weeks