NASA to send first Black, first female astronauts to moon
NASA is preparing to launch a mission to the moon, and it’s making history for more reasons than one.
space agency Artemis II The launch marks the first U.S. return trip to the moon in more than 50 years. It will also carry the first Black astronaut and the first female astronaut to travel to the moon, but the mission will be a flight without touching the surface.
The launch, originally planned for early February and now postponed, will carry four astronauts around and behind the moon, including Victor Glover and Christina Koch, the first Black and first female astronauts, respectively, to make the flight.
The mission follows the success of Artemis I, which launched uncrewed in 2022, and marks NASA’s next step toward eventually sending astronauts to Mars.
“The benefits of the Artemis program are technological but also cultural,” Glover, a decorated captain in the U.S. Navy who has traveled to the International Space Station, said at NASA 2024. video. “What’s really important to me is that the inspiration that comes from this will inspire future generations to reach for the moon, literally reach for the moon.”
Koch began his career at NASA, starting out as an engineer and conducting scientific research before becoming an astronaut in 2013 and also traveled to the International Space Station.
“What I’m most excited about is that we will carry your excitement, your desire, your dreams with us on this mission,” Koch said at the 2023 press conference where the mission’s astronauts were announced.
This mission builds on decades of NASA work, including lessons learned from previous failed efforts, said Danielle Wood, a professor in the department of astronautics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
“NASA has been thinking throughout this entire twenty-year process about what we’re going to do to prepare the government to focus on these more challenging, next-generation missions and to be able to do things that haven’t been proven yet,” Wood told CNBC.
Wood said he’s also thankful that NASA has committed to sending more diverse astronauts to space who are “more broadly representative of society.” While the space agency initially emphasized military training for astronauts, expanding those requirements has led to exciting developments, he said.
“There are still a lot of firsts, a lot of glass ceilings that need to be broken by Black women and Black men and women in general; it’s still real,” Wood added.
He said the mission would involve more than just an exploration trip to the moon. NASA will conduct scientific research on astronauts’ health, rocket and lunar science. The mission is also working with other countries such as Saudi Arabia and Germany as part of “goodwill” agreements to pool resources for lunar exploration, Wood said.
“This is just one step towards a bigger, new way of operating,” he said.
Amy Shira Teitel, a space historian who has studied space for more than two decades, said Artemis II is the beginning of NASA’s next chapter of research.
“This marks a new era of leaving low Earth orbit, which we haven’t done since 1972,” he told CNBC. “This is still an important step because at the end of the day we will have some information that can be applied to whatever the next step is.”
Still, Teitel has doubts about whether this launch will be the first step toward a permanent presence on the moon. Amid budget constraints, numerous launch delays and complicated political factors, Teitel said the rocket that launched this mission was “generally regarded as a huge blessing.”
This comes as the space industry and the journey to the moon become more crowded.
Elon Musk’s SpaceX announced Earlier this month he said he was shifting his efforts from Mars exploration to lunar exploration. Texas-based rocket and spacecraft manufacturer Firefly Aviation and Houston-based space startup Intuitive Machines Both sent spacecraft to the moon.
And NASA plans to do it retire The International Space Station, as costs rise, favors smaller space stations focused on the Moon and Mars. US Senate too further legislation Supporting NASA’s advancements and creating thousands of aerospace jobs, especially in Alabama, where Marshall Space Flight Center is located.
Although the launch of Artemis II will mark a significant step in NASA history, Teitel said he chooses to remain cautiously optimistic about the future of space exploration despite the obstacles.
“There are so many challenges in this program right now that come from politics, not from the astronauts or the engineers, but just from the fact that space is so complex, so ingrained in politics, and so expensive that it’s hard to get so excited about it as the next step when everything else feels so tenuous,” Teitel said. he said.
