NASA honors astronauts who traveled to moon as historic launch nears
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By Dean Murray
As astronauts set to blast off to the moon, NASA has celebrated the 24 previous spacemen who have taken the trip.
NASA History Office shared a montage of them with the message: “These are the 24 humans who have traveled to the Moon to date, 12 of whom walked on its surface.”
On their social media post, they added: “With Artemis II, we look forward to adding @astro_reid, @AstroVicGlover, @Astro_Christina and @Astro_Jeremy to this photo!”
NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut Jeremy Hansen are scheduled to launch April 1, with additional launch opportunities through Monday, April 6.
Artemis II is NASA’s first crewed mission under the Artemis program and will launch from the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
On an approximately 10-day journey around the moon, the agency will test the Orion spacecraft’s life support systems for the first time with people and lay the groundwork for future crewed Artemis missions.
NASA said they aim to eventually land the first woman and first person of color on the lunar surface.
The composite image shows the 24 astronauts who flew on NASA’s Apollo lunar missions (1968–1972).
Top row (left to right):
Frankâ¯Borman – Orbited only (Apolloâ¯8â¯Commander)
Jamesâ¯Lovell – Orbited only (Apolloâ¯8â¯CMP, Apolloâ¯13â¯Commander)
Williamâ¯Anders – Orbited only (Apolloâ¯8â¯LMP)
Eugeneâ¯Cernan – Walked on Moon (Apolloâ¯17â¯Commander; also Apolloâ¯10â¯LMP)
Johnâ¯Young – Walked on Moon (Apolloâ¯16â¯Commander; also Apolloâ¯10â¯CMP)
Thomasâ¯Stafford – Orbited only (Apolloâ¯10â¯Commander)
Second row (left to right):
Neilâ¯Armstrong – Walked on Moon (Apolloâ¯11â¯Commander)
Buzzâ¯Aldrin – Walked on Moon (Apolloâ¯11â¯LMP)
Michaelâ¯Collins – Orbited only (Apolloâ¯11â¯CMP)
Charles⯓Pete”â¯Conrad – Walked on Moon (Apolloâ¯12â¯Commander)
Richardâ¯Gordon – Orbited only (Apolloâ¯12â¯CMP)
Alanâ¯Bean – Walked on Moon (Apolloâ¯12â¯LMP)
Third row (left to right):
Alanâ¯Shepard – Walked on Moon (Apolloâ¯14â¯Commander)
Stuartâ¯Roosa – Orbited only (Apolloâ¯14â¯CMP)
Edgarâ¯Mitchell – Walked on Moon (Apolloâ¯14â¯LMP)
Davidâ¯Scott – Walked on Moon (Apolloâ¯15â¯Commander)
Alfredâ¯Worden – Orbited only (Apolloâ¯15â¯CMP)
Jamesâ¯Irwin – Walked on Moon (Apolloâ¯15â¯LMP)
Bottom row (left to right):
Johnâ¯Young – Walked on Moon (Apolloâ¯16â¯Commander)
Thomasâ¯Mattingly – Orbited only (Apolloâ¯16â¯CMP)
Charlesâ¯Duke – Walked on Moon (Apolloâ¯16â¯LMP)
Eugeneâ¯Cernan – Walked on Moon (Apolloâ¯17â¯Commander⯗â¯duplicate appearance)
Ronaldâ¯Evans – Orbited only (Apolloâ¯17â¯CMP)
Harrisonâ¯Schmitt – Walked on Moon (Apolloâ¯17â¯LMP)
