The astronaut team consists of 47-year-old Gregory Reed Wiseman, 46-year-old Victor Jerome Glover, 44-year-old Christina Koch and 47-year-old Jeremy Roger Hansen. Koch was also part of the first woman to walk in space.

The astronauts’ announcement can be seen in the video below.

New generation

Artemis II is being called the next generation of explorers by NASA. During the flight, the astronauts check that the space rocket is operating properly and meets the requirements for a human passenger vehicle.

The mission will take off from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The path runs along the far side of the Moon, more than 230,000 US miles (about 370,149 kilometers) from Earth.

The space rocket is intended to land in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of San Diego at the end of the mission. There, the crew is picked up by a team of NASA and US defense personnel.

The last time NASA sent a manned flight to the Moon was in 1972 when Apollo 17 was carried out.

The crew members were announced today at a NASA event at Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. The mission is scheduled to take place in November next year.