NASA representatives and a team of four astronauts announced significant progress regarding the Artemis 2 mission, which involves a journey to the Moon.
Commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, and mission specialists Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen are slated to be the first crew to orbit the Moon since the Apollo 17 mission in 1972.
Once the mission begins, the astronauts will board an Orion spacecraft that will be launched by NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket. This 10-day flight aims to validate the systems and hardware necessary for initial human lunar exploration missions.
On September 24, the crew convened at NASA’s Johnson Space Center (JSC) to reveal the spacecraft’s name, Integrity, and proposed launch date.
Regarding the spacecraft’s name, NASA stated: “The name Integrity embodies the foundation of trust, respect, candor, and humility across the crew and the many engineers, technicians, scientists, planners, and dreamers required for mission success.”
NASA officials also disclosed that after previous delays pushing the mission to April 2026, the launch could now occur as early as February 5.
Wiseman remarked: “We’re going to launch when this vehicle is ready, when this team is ready, and we’re going to go execute this mission to the best of our abilities.
“We might go to the moon — that’s where we want to go — but it is a test mission, and we are ready for every scenario as we ride this amazing Space Launch System on the Orion spacecraft, 250,000 miles away. It’s going to be amazing.”
The crew is not expected to land on the Moon; that task is anticipated for the Artemis 3 mission.
This mission occurs within the context of what former President Donald Trump’s administration described as a ‘second space race,’ as China also aims for a lunar mission.
Top NASA official Lakiesha Hawkins explained: “There is a desire for us to return to the surface of the Moon and to be the first to return to the surface of the Moon.”
However, Hawkins emphasized that NASA’s main ‘objective’ is a safe return to the Moon.
The journey will be historic for numerous reasons, marking the first crewed moon flight since the Apollo program, the first time a woman and person of color will travel to the Moon, and the farthest humans have ventured into deep space.
Nevertheless, Glover emphasized concentrating on the mission, stating: “That’s a distraction. If we want to live up to the standards that we owe the American and Canadian [public] and humanity in general, we have to be able to focus and know what the next right thing is to do. And so I actually spend a lot of time clearing that out of my head so I can focus on my job.”
Hansen expressed that the mission is an ‘absolute privilege’, adding: “For us, Artemis 2 is about much more than just going back to the moon. It is about the pursuit of excellence.”