'Humanity’s crew', NASA selects crew for moon fly-by mission

NASA on Monday named the four astronauts who will fly to the Moon by the end of next year, including one woman and three men.

Astronauts Christina Koch, Victor Glover, Reid Wiseman, and Jeremy Hansen were introduced during a televised ceremony from Houston, home to the nation’s astronauts as well as Mission Control.

The mission’s commander, Reid Wiseman, will be joined by Victor Glover, an African American naval aviator; Christina Koch, who holds the world record for the longest spaceflight by a woman; and Canada’s Jeremy Hansen. All are space veterans expect Hansen.

“This is humanity’s crew,” said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson.

The three Americans and one Canadian will be the first to fly NASA’s Orion capsule, launching atop a Space Launch System rocket from Kennedy Space Center no earlier than late 2024.

They will not land or even go into lunar orbit, but rather fly around the Moon and head straight back to Earth, a prelude to a lunar landing by two others a year later.