NASA reports that very soon we will know the names of the four astronauts who will participate in the Artemis II mission, embarking on a journey around the Moon. NASA and the CSA (Canadian Space Agency) will announce everything during an event that will start at 5.00 pm (in our time zone) on Monday April 3 from Ellington Field of the Johnson Space Center of NASA in Houston.
Artemis II will be the first manned mission aboard the Orion spacecraft. The mission will last approximately 10 days and will aim to test and stress the life support systems of the spacecraft, to demonstrate the capabilities and techniques necessary to live and work in space. The first manned test flight will pave the way for a long-term scientific and human presence on the lunar surface. The crew will include three NASA astronauts and one CSA astronaut.
The Artemis III mission will follow in 2025, where for the first time since the Apollo program, new astronauts will leave their footprints on the lunar surface. In this regard, the agency has identified 13 candidate regions near the lunar South Pole, and each region contains multiple potential landing sites.
Artemis II will follow up its success with the flight test of Artemis I, which last year launched the unmanned Orion capsule atop the SLS rocket on a 25-day journey. Just recently the in-depth results derived from internal analyzes arrived, where the Orion capsule and launch systems were checked in depth in search of critical issues, weaknesses and things to improve. It turns out that Artemis I was a total success.
A little curiosity before concluding: did you know that Apple TV + will make a film titled Project Artemiswhose filming is currently underway at Kennedy Space Center of NASA? For now the plot of the film is jealously guarded, but as anticipated we know that will be set in the 60s during the space race. There is talk of a cast of absolute thickness, which will see the presence of Scarlett Johansson in the role of the protagonist, flanked by important names such as that of Channing Tatum.
Appointment therefore on April 4th to know the faces of the new astronauts, of Artemis II, which will be unveiled during a live stream on NASA Live TV.