A Canadian astronaut will join NASA astronauts on the first crewed mission to the moon in over 50 years, making Canada the second nation to have an astronaut fly around the moon, reports News 6 partner Florida Today.
The first crewed mission, known as Artemis II, will orbit around the Moon similar to the Apollo 8 mission in order to test NASA’s Orion spacecraft. It’s slated for 2023.
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Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield, the first Canadian to walk in space, took to Twitter to express his excitement over the historic announcement.
“Two Canadian astronauts are going to the Moon! And soon!” he tweeted.
The second flight with a Canadian astronaut would be on a later flight.
NASA and the Canadian Space Agency did not announce who the astronauts will be but a current CSA astronaut Jeremy Hansen tweeted that it’s an exciting opportunity for Canada and that Canadians are humbled to play a role in returning humans to the moon.
In addition to providing two astronauts, the Canadian Space Agency will also provide a next-generation robotic arm known as Canadarm3 for the Gateway, an orbiting outpost that will provide a staging point for traveling to the lunar surface and deep space.
Canadarm3 will move end-over-end to reach many parts of the Gateway’s exterior, where its anchoring “hand” will plug into specially designed interfaces. Delivery to the lunar outpost is targeted in 2026 via a U.S. commercial supply flight.
The original Canadarm was a well-known piece of hardware on the space shuttle used to deploy, move and capture payloads. The CSA has supported decades of missions on the space shuttle and International Space Station.
“Canada was the first international partner to commit to advancing the Gateway in early 2019, they signed the Artemis Accords in October, and now we’re excited to formalize this partnership for lunar exploration,” said NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine.
In 2017, President Trump tasked NASA with sending the first woman to the the moon by 2024. The program, dubbed Artemis after the sister of the Greek god Apollo, hinges on NASA’s completion of its heavy-lift Space Launch System rocket and Orion crew capsule both of which have experienced technical issues and delays.
Contact Rachael Joy at 321-242-3577. Follow her on Twitter @Rachael_Joy.