On April 1st 2026 at 6:35pm EST NASA’s Artemis II SLS Rocket lifted off from Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Complex 39B in Florida, with the Orion spacecraft containing four astronauts in the first crewed lunar flyby in 50 years. At the time of writing it is currently 6 Days 21 Hours and 10 Minutes into the 10 Day mission.
The four astronauts are Christina Koch, Victor Glover, Jeremy Hansen, and Reid Wiseman.
Mission Specialist Christina Koch was born on January 29, 1979 in Grand Rapids Michigan, a three time graduate from North Carolina State University, earning her first Bachelor’s of science in Physics in 2001. She then went onto earn her second Bachelor’s of Science in Electrical Engineering in 2002, and her Master’s in Electrical engineering that very same year. In December 2020 NCSU also awarded Koch an honorary PhD. Her impressive career began even before her selection to become an Astronaut, first employed as an Electrical Engineer at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, then going onto the United State Antarctic program as a Research Associate. During her year long stay at the Admunsen-Scott South Pole Station and her season at the Palmer Station, Koch also served on the firefighting and search and rescue teams. After this she returned to her job of electrical engineering this time in the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory’s Space Department where Koch’s developments on space science instruments would be used in the Juno and Van Allen Probe missions. She would return to scientific field research through multiple tours of the Palmer Station in Antarctica and Summit Station in Greenland, as well as joining the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration as a Field Engineer in Utqiagvik, Alaska and as Station Chief of the American Samoa Observatory. She passed the 2013 selection of the 21st NASA Astronaut Class with her training completed by 2015. Her first spaceflight in 2018 to the International Space Station led Koch to serve as the Flight Engineer for Expeditions 59, 60, and 61 as well as participating in the first three all women spacewalks in history, and ending in a whopping 328 cumulative days spent in space. Upon her return planetside Koch served as Branch Chief of the Assigned Crew Branch in the Astronaut Office with rotations as an Assistant for Technical Integration at NASA’s Johnson Space Center. Today, she marks history as the first woman in Deep Space and to travel around the moon.
Pilot Victor J. Glover was born on April 30, 1976 in Pomona, California. He earned a Bachelor’s of Science in General Engineering from California Polytechnic Institute in 1999, and three more degrees from 2007-2010: A Master’s of Science in Flight Test Engineering from the Air University of the United States Air Force, a Master’s of Science in Systems Engineering from the Naval Post Graduate School, and a Master’s of Military Operational Art and Science from Air University in. Glover also holds a Certificate in Space Systems from the Naval Post Graduate School as well as a Certificate in Legislative Studies from Georgetown University. Over his career Glover has accumulated an impressive 3,500 flight hours in over 40 aircraft with over 400 carrier arrested landings. In 2012 he was selected for the Legislative Fellowship where he was assigned to the personal staff of U.S. Senator John McCain through the Office of Legislative Affairs in Washington, D.C.. Selected through the 2013 21st NASA astronaut class, Glover completed his training in 2015 and went on to serve as Space Station Capsule Communicator, Expedition 52 Increment Lead Crew Member, Operations Officer, and Family Escort for several Soyuz and Crew Dragon launches. His first spaceflight was in 2018 as the Crew-1 Pilot of the Crew Dragon spacecraft along with the position of a Flight Engineer for expeditions 64 and 65 aboard the ISS where Glover would spend a cumulative 168 days in space. Upon returning planetside Glover then served as the Human Landing Systems crew representative, and in a supervisory role as the Astronaut Office, assigned the Crew Branch Chief. His first spaceflight in 2018 made Victor J. Glover the first African-American to live on the ISS for a long duration mission, and today he marks history as the first African-American astronaut to journey around the moon as well.
Mission Specialist Jeremy Roger Hansen was born on January 27, 1976 in London, Ontario. Hansen graduated with a Bachelor’s of Science in Space Sciences from the Royal Military College of Canada in 1999 and acquired his Master’s in Physics from the same institution in the following year. He was selected as an astronaut in 2009 by the Canadian Space Academy through the third Canadian Astronaut Recruitment Campaign, completing his training in 2011 and going onto serve as Capsule Communicator at the Mission Control Center. In 2013 Hansen participated in the European Space Agency’s CAVES program in Sardina, Italy where he would live underground for six days. Similarly, in 2014 Hansen participated in the NEEMO 19 program where he would then reside and work on the ocean floor of the Aquarius habitat in Key Largo, Florida to simulate training for Deep Space missions. In 2017 Jeremy Roger Hansen would mark history in becoming the first Canadian entrusted with leading a NASA Astronaut Class, and now he continues his legacy as the first Canadian to enter deep space.
Commander Reid Wiseman was born on November 11, 1975 in Baltimore Maryland. In 1997 Wiseman earned a Bachelor’s of Science in Computer and Systems Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, a Master’s of Science in Systems Engineering from Johns Hopkins University in 2006, and a Certificate of Space Systems from the US Naval Postgraduate School in 2008. Selected in 2009 through the 20th NASA astronaut class Wiseman completed his training in 2011 and went onto serve as Flight Engineer abroad the ISS Expedition 41 from May to November in 2014 for a total of 165 days. Despite being his first spaceflight, Wiseman served 13 hours as lead spacewalker during two orbital walks out of the complex. Over the course of his time on the ISS the team completed an incredible and record breaking 300 experiments and 82 hours of research in one week alone during July. From 2020 to 2022 Wiseman served as the 17th Chief of Astronaut Office at NASA, the most senior leadership position for active astronauts in the association. While his daughters Katie and Ellie Wiseman look up to the sky awaiting the joyous return of their father, Wiseman carries with him the spirit of his late wife Carroll and his love for her, to the moon and back.
On a more personal note: I have spent a lifetime dreaming of a future filled with writing. That lifetime has been filled with trials and setbacks of every kind one could imagine. After this year in my life, and the last decade of international events, it felt like a future long dead and gone; a pure impossibility. Now I sit here typing the first piece of my writing that will ever be published, surrounded by people I love. I look up to the stars with hope at a group of humans defying the very notion of impossibility. I look up to the moon with hope seeded in my heart.
In parallel to the words of the very crew I write about today: To all of you among the stars, we love you from Earth. And we eagerly await your return home.
/ Gouvernement du Canada. (2025, September 22). Astronaut Jeremy Hansen’s biography. Canadian Space Agency. https://www.asc-csa.gc.ca/eng/astronauts/canadian/active/bio-jeremy-hansen.asp
Bowman, A. (2026a, April 2). Christina Koch. NASA. https://www.nasa.gov/people/christina-koch/#hds-sidebar-nav-4
Bowman, A. (2026b, April 2). Reid Wiseman. NASA. https://www.nasa.gov/people/reid-wiseman/
Bowman, A. (2026c, April 2). Victor J. Glover, Jr.. NASA. https://www.nasa.gov/people/victor-j-glover-jr/#hds-sidebar-nav-3
NASA. (n.d.). Eclipse safety first. NASA. https://www.nasa.gov/image-detail/amf-art002e009302/
