NASA Names Artemis-2 Crew for Next Moonshot, One Is Outspoken Christian: 'We Need Jesus'
NASA on Monday named the four astronauts who will fly around the moon late next year, including the first woman and the first African American assigned to a lunar mission.
The first moon crew in 50 years — three Americans and one Canadian — was introduced during a ceremony in Houston, home to the nation's astronauts as well as Mission Control.
"This is humanity's crew," said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson.
The four astronauts will be the first to fly NASA's Orion capsule, launching atop a Space Launch System rocket from Kennedy Space Center no earlier than late 2024. They will not land or even go into lunar orbit, but rather fly around the moon and head straight back to Earth, a prelude to a lunar landing by two others a year later. Their space flight will be reminiscent of Apollo 8's mission in 1968.
The mission's commander, Reid Wiseman, will be joined by Victor Glover, an African American naval aviator; Christina Koch, who holds the world record for the longest spaceflight by a woman; and Canada's Jeremy Hansen, a former fighter pilot and the crew's lone space rookie. Wiseman, Glover, and Koch have all lived on the International Space Station (ISS). All four are in their 40s.
Victor Glover gives remarks after he was announced at the mission pilot for the Artemis II during a NASA ceremony naming the four astronauts who will fly around the moon by the end of next year on the Artemis II mission, at a ceremony held in the NASA hangar at Ellington airport Monday, April 3, 2023, in Houston. (AP Photo/Michael Wyke)
"This is a big day. We have a lot to celebrate and it's so much more than the four names that have been announced," Glover said.
Glover, a Christian, took a Bible and communion cups during his time on the ISS. He served aboard the space station for 168 days.
READ Christian Astronaut Says Sunrise, Sunset From Outer Space Remind Him of Psalm 30
Last year, Glover spoke to the Abell Street Church of Christ in Wharton, Texas about his time in the Final Frontier, Christian Headlines reported.
"I was able to worship in space," he said. "... I was able to take communion every week I was in space."
NASA, Glover said, "supported me and my family's desire to continue to worship and to continue our faith walk even while I was off the planet."
"That was really important to me," he said.
Glover's message was from the Bible's New Testament in 2 Peter 1, where the apostle Peter told the church to "add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love," according to Christian Headlines.
"I think the world needs all of those things right now," Glover told the church, referencing the chapter. "The world needs all of those. We need all of those right now."
He told the Texas congregation that everyone needs to continue to keep developing in their faith walk.
"No matter how long we've been in this, whether you're a preacher, an elder, or a deacon, brand new in your faith walk, we all need to be growing," Glover said.
Jesus, he said, is the answer to the world's problems.
"We have a sin nature and we need Jesus," Glover said. "Jesus is that bridge that spans sin and gives us a chance of going to heaven."
Glover told the congregation the ISS crew was composed of people of all beliefs, something he enjoyed, according to Christian Headlines. He and his crewmates sat in the window and "looked at the earth and had philosophical discussions about God" and "everything under the sun," he said.
Glover recalled how his crew wanted to come together in the evenings after being alone and working hard each day.
"And I tell you what – all of us wanted to fellowship in the evening {after} being alone and working hard all day long. And that human desire to be together, to be with our brothers and sisters, is a thing that I think about all the time," he said.
NASA to Return to Moon's Surface by 2025
Provided this next 10-day moonshot goes well, NASA aims to land two astronauts on the moon by 2025 or so.
Congratulations streamed in from retired astronauts, including Apollo 11's Buzz Aldrin and Scott Kelly, the first American to spend close to a year in space. "Huge risks, huge commitment, eternal benefits for all. What a crew!" tweeted Chris Hadfield, the first Canadian commander of the space station a decade ago who performed David Bowie's "Space Oddity" from orbit.
President Joe Biden spoke with the four astronauts and their families on Sunday. In a tweet Monday, Biden said the mission "will inspire the next generation of explorers, and show every child — in America, in Canada, and across the world — that if they can dream it, they can be it."
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