NASA Announces Moon Mission Astronauts
2023-04-10
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1The American space agency NASA has chosen the astronaut crew that will carry out a planned test mission around the moon next year.
2The trip is part of NASA's Artemis program, which aims to land the next Americans on the moon.
3Four astronauts will take part in the flight, which NASA is officially calling Artemis II.
4Artemis II, planned for late 2024, will send the astronauts on NASA's Orion spacecraft on a 10-day trip around the moon.
5The aim of the mission is to test all Orion's systems with human astronauts in place.
6Last December, Orion completed another test flight with no astronauts on board.
7During that test mission, called Artemis I, the spacecraft traveled more than 2.2 million kilometers around the moon and back.
8After the flight, NASA reported the Orion spacecraft had performed above the agency's expectations.
9If Artemis II is successful, a third mission, Artemis III, will be launched aiming to land astronauts on the surface of the moon.
10That effort - which NASA has said will include the first woman and person of color - is expected to take place in the coming years.
11It would be the first moon landing by astronauts since NASA's Apollo 17 mission in 1972.
12In announcing its choices for Artemis II, NASA named the first woman and first African American to be included on a lunar mission.
13One of the astronauts is Christina Koch, who will serve as Mission Specialist 1.
14She is a 44-year-old engineer who holds the record for the longest continuous spaceflight by a woman.
15She also took part in NASA's first three all-female spacewalks.
16Koch will be joined by Victor Glover.
17He is a 46-year-old U.S. Navy pilot who has carried out four spacewalks.
18Glover, who will serve as the mission's pilot, will be the first Black astronaut ever chosen for a moon mission.
19Also, part of the crew will be 47-year-old Jeremy Hansen, a colonel in the Royal Canadian Air Force, who will serve as Mission Specialist 2.
20Former U.S. Navy fighter pilot Reid Wiseman, also 47, will serve on Artemis II as the mission commander.
21"The Artemis II crew represents thousands of people working tirelessly to bring us to the stars,"
22NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said in announcing the choices.
23"This is humanity's crew," he added.
24Koch said to cheers from the crowd, "Am I excited? Absolutely. But my real question is: 'Are you excited?'" she added.
25The Canadian Space Agency got a seat on the flight because of its work with NASA on developing robotic arms and space station equipment.
26Hansen said he is thankful Canada is going to be part of the mission.
27"We are going to the moon together. Let's go!" he said.
28Artemis II is expected to reach a point more than 370,000 kilometers away from Earth.
29The traditional low-Earth orbit of the International Space Station is about 400 kilometers above Earth's surface.
30I'm Bryan Lynn.
1The American space agency NASA has chosen the astronaut crew that will carry out a planned test mission around the moon next year. 2The trip is part of NASA's Artemis program, which aims to land the next Americans on the moon. 3Four astronauts will take part in the flight, which NASA is officially calling Artemis II. Artemis II, planned for late 2024, will send the astronauts on NASA's Orion spacecraft on a 10-day trip around the moon. The aim of the mission is to test all Orion's systems with human astronauts in place. 4Last December, Orion completed another test flight with no astronauts on board. During that test mission, called Artemis I, the spacecraft traveled more than 2.2 million kilometers around the moon and back. After the flight, NASA reported the Orion spacecraft had performed above the agency's expectations. 5If Artemis II is successful, a third mission, Artemis III, will be launched aiming to land astronauts on the surface of the moon. That effort - which NASA has said will include the first woman and person of color - is expected to take place in the coming years. It would be the first moon landing by astronauts since NASA's Apollo 17 mission in 1972. 6In announcing its choices for Artemis II, NASA named the first woman and first African American to be included on a lunar mission. 7One of the astronauts is Christina Koch, who will serve as Mission Specialist 1. She is a 44-year-old engineer who holds the record for the longest continuous spaceflight by a woman. She also took part in NASA's first three all-female spacewalks. 8Koch will be joined by Victor Glover. He is a 46-year-old U.S. Navy pilot who has carried out four spacewalks. Glover, who will serve as the mission's pilot, will be the first Black astronaut ever chosen for a moon mission. 9Also, part of the crew will be 47-year-old Jeremy Hansen, a colonel in the Royal Canadian Air Force, who will serve as Mission Specialist 2. Former U.S. Navy fighter pilot Reid Wiseman, also 47, will serve on Artemis II as the mission commander. 10"The Artemis II crew represents thousands of people working tirelessly to bring us to the stars," NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said in announcing the choices. "This is humanity's crew," he added. 11Koch said to cheers from the crowd, "Am I excited? Absolutely. But my real question is: 'Are you excited?'" she added. 12The Canadian Space Agency got a seat on the flight because of its work with NASA on developing robotic arms and space station equipment. Hansen said he is thankful Canada is going to be part of the mission. "We are going to the moon together. Let's go!" he said. 13Artemis II is expected to reach a point more than 370,000 kilometers away from Earth. The traditional low-Earth orbit of the International Space Station is about 400 kilometers above Earth's surface. 14I'm Bryan Lynn. 15Bryan Lynn wrote this story for VOA Learning English, based on reports from The Associated Press, Reuters and NASA. 16_________________________________________________________________ 17Words in This Story 18mission - n. a flight by an aircraft or spacecraft to perform a specific task 19on board -adj. to be on a vehicle, especially a boat, airplane, or spaceship 20absolutely -expression a way to forcefully say, "yes" 21____________________________________________________________________ 22What do you think of this story? We want to hear from you. We have a new comment system. Here is how it works: 23Each time you return to comment on the Learning English site, you can use your account and see your comments and replies to them. Our comment policy is here.