Four Astronauts Launch to Moon Next Week After 50 Years

Four astronauts are days away from making history as the first humans to fly to the moon in more than five decades.

NASA's Artemis 2 mission launches April 1, carrying commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, and mission specialists Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen on a 10-day journey around the moon. None of them were alive when the last Apollo mission flew in 1972.

The crew will pilot the new Orion spacecraft and test systems critical for future moon landings planned for 2028. They've spent months in simulators, practicing launches and splashdowns, learning every detail of how to live and work in space.

But the mission means more than technical achievements. Glover will become the first Black person to leave low Earth orbit. Koch will be the first woman to do so. Hansen will be the first non-American.

"We're all on this journey together," Glover said in a recent speech. "Whether you're sitting at home in your sweats or working in Mission Control or riding the vehicle around the moon, we're all on this journey together."

The crew has embraced their role as representatives of humanity. NASA's first Black and women astronauts weren't selected until 1978, six years after the last Apollo moon mission. Canadian astronauts weren't chosen until 1983. Three of the four crew members were well into childhood before they could even imagine becoming astronauts.

Wiseman said the mission has changed how he sees the moon itself. "When I stand on the surface of Earth now and I look at the moon at night, I'm flipping my brain around," he said. "I'm imagining what the far side looks like."

The crew designed their mission patch with hidden details honoring the past. Earth appears in the same position as the famous Apollo 8 Earthrise photo from 1968.

Why This Inspires

After more than 50 years of humans staying close to Earth, this mission reminds us that exploration isn't finished. The crew's diversity shows how far spaceflight has come since Apollo, when every astronaut who flew to the moon was a white American man.

"I hope people embrace it, because it's for all of us," Glover said.

Humanity is going back to the moon, and this time everyone gets to see themselves in the journey.

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