Who are the potential astronauts selected by NASA to go to the moon in the Artemis program?

NASA successfully launched the Artemis I mission in the early hours of Wednesday. The much-delayed launch is the first phase of an international project to return humans to the Moon for the first time since Apollo 17 in 1972. This time though, NASA plans to set up a colony on the Moon to lay the groundwork for sending manned missions to Mars and further out into our solar system.

While the current mission was unmanned, except for a simulated crew of three mannequins and Shaun the Sheep, the next Artemis mission, scheduled for May 2024, will carry a crew of four to make a lunar fly-by. That will be followed by a third sometime in 2025 that will see the first woman and next man set foot on the surface of the Moon.

Who are the Artemis astronauts selected by NASA?

NASA has already selected 18 astronauts, 9 men and 9 women, who will be joined later by members from international partners. The initial Artemis Team will “help pave the way for the next lunar missions.”

The crews have not been named as yet for neither the Artemis II nor Artemis III, but here is a look at the 18 people that currently make up the Artemis Team.

Joseph Acaba

Joseph Acaba has been with NASA since 2004. The California native has had prominent roles in the agency including Branch Chief of the International Space Station Operations and Director of Operations Russia in Star City. The former US Marine has logged a total of 306 days in space on three flights and accumulated 12 hours and 57 minutes of Extravehicular Activity over two spacewalks.

Kayla Barron

The Washington state native, Kayla Barron joined NASA in 2017. The commissioned naval officer currently doesn’t have any space experience and is awaiting a flight assignment.

Raja Chari

The colonel select in the US Air Force has logged over 2,000 hours of flight time, including in combat missions. Raja Chari, a native of Iowa, joined NASA in 2017. Chari currently doesn’t have any space experience and is awaiting a flight assignment.

Matthew Dominick

Matthew Dominick joined the US space agency in 2017. The native of Colorado currently doesn’t have any space experience, he’s awaiting a flight assignment from NASA. As a Navy pilot though he has logged over 1,600 hours flight hours, including in combat, in 28 different aircraft models.

Victor Glover

Hailing from California, Victor Glover was a Legislative Fellow in the US Senate when selected as an astronaut candidate in 2013. The Navy pilot has accumulated 3,000 flight hours, including in combat, in more than 40 aircraft.

Glover served as pilot and second-in-command on Resilience, the Crew-1 SpaceX Crew Dragon, which launched November 15, 2020. Upon completing the mission of delivering the crew to the International Space Station, he served as Flight Engineer there for Expedition 64 returning 9 April 2021.

Warren Hoburg

Warren Hoburg comes from Pittsburgh, PA and joined NASA in 2017. Hoburg has a Bachelor’s degree in Aeronautics and Astronautics from MIT and Doctorate in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from the University of California, Berkeley. He currently doesn’t have any space experience, awaiting a flight assignment from NASA.

Jonny Kim

Jonny Kim has a Bachelor’s degree in Mathematics from University of San Diego and Doctorate of Medicine from Harvard Medical School. The Golden Stater enlisted in the Navy after graduating high school and has served as a Special Operations Combat Medic, sniper, navigator and point man on more than 100 combat operations spanning two deployments to the Middle East. He joined the US space agency in 2017 and was assigned technical duties in the Astronaut Office while he awaits flight assignment.

Christina H. Koch

Hailing from Michigan Christina H Koch has a Bachelor and Master of Science in Electrical Engineering as well as a Bachelor of Science in Physics from North Carolina State University in Raleigh. She joined NASA in 2013 and has since spent a total of 328 days in space, conducting six spacewalks, including the first three all women spacewalks, totaling 42 hours and 15 minutes.

Kjell Lindgren

Kjell Lindgren joined NASA in 2009. The former member of the US Air Force served as the Deputy Crew Surgeon for STS‐130 and Expedition 24. The Midwesterner has logged 141 days in space conducted two spacewalks for a total of 15 hours and four minutes of spacewalk time.

Nicole A Mann

Nicole A Mann is a mechanical engineer who specializes in fluid mechanics. She earned her wings of gold as a Naval Aviator in 2003 and has since racked up over 2,500 flight hours in 25 types of aircraft, including in combat, with the Marine Corp. She joined NASA in 2013 and led the astronaut corps in the development of the Orion spacecraft, Space Launch System (SLS), and Exploration Ground Systems (EGS). The California native has been training on the module for the first crewed flight for the Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft

Anne McClain

A mechanical and aeronautical engineer, Anne McClain, got her bachelor’s degree at West Point. The Army officer joined the US space agency in 2013. McClain, who hails from Washington state, has spent a total of 204 days in space and while on mission conducted two spacewalks totaling 13 hours and 8 minutes.

Jessica Meir

Jessica Meir is a biologist has a Master of Science in Space Studies from International Space University. Originally from Maine joined NASA in 2013 and has orbited the Earth 3,280 times racking up 86.9 million miles in space over the 205 days spent off planet.

Jasmin Moghbeli

A native New Yorker, Jasmin Moghbeli joined the Marine Corp and earned her wings of gold as a Naval Aviator in 2008. Since then she has accumulated 2,000 hours of flight time, including in combat, in over 25 different aircraft. The aerospace engineer was selected to join the US space agency in 2017 and is currently awaiting a flight assignment.

Kate Rubins

Kate Rubins has been with NASA since 2009. The molecular biologist has logged 115 days in space. The Golden Stater serve for six months aboard the International Space Station as a flight engineer for the Expedition 63/64 crew. Rubins has racked up 12 hours and 46 minutes of spacewalk time during her time in space.

Frank Rubio

Hailing from Florida, Frank Rubio was serving as a battalion surgeon for the 3rd Battalion of the 10th Special Forces Group in the US Army Airborne when he joined NASA in 2017. He is currently awaiting flight assignment.

Scott Tingle

A mechanical engineer with a specialty in fluid mechanics and propulsion, Scott Tingle comes from Massachusetts. Tingle earned his wings of gold as a naval aviator in 1993 and has since racked up over 4,500 flight hours in 51 types of aircraft, including combat missions. The former Navy pilot, who joined NASA in 2009, lived and worked in low-Earth orbit for 168 days aboard the International Space Station. He was the Flight Engineer and United States Operational Segment Lead for Expedition 54/55.

Jessica Watkins

Jessica Watkins joined the US space agency in 2017. The Colorado native is a geological and environmental scientist and is currently awaiting flight assignment.

Stephanie Wilson

Stephanie Wilson has been with NASA the longest of the current Artemis Team, joining the US space agency in 1996. She earned her Bachelor of Science in Engineering Science from Harvard University and Masters of Science in Aerospace Engineering from University of Texas at Austin. The Massachusetts native has flown on three space shuttle missions during her career, STS-121, STS-120 and STS-131 spending over 43 days total in space.