NASA has selected Andre Douglas as a backup astronaut for the Artemis 2 mission, scheduled for a crewed flyby of the moon in September 2025.
Douglas, 38, holds a doctorate in systems engineering from George Washington University. He has experience working with the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, which specializes in robotics and space exploration missions, before being selected as a NASA astronaut in Class 23 in 2021.
He completed two years of initial astronaut training with NASA in March 2024, and was selected as a backup crew member for Artemis 2, Douglas' first mission.
In April 2023, NASA announced the selection of Reid Wiseman as commander of the Artemis 2 mission, with Victor Glover as space pilot, and Christina Koch and Canadian astronaut J. Remy Hansen as mission expert.
Artemis 2 will be the first crewed mission to the Moon since Apollo 17 in December 1972. To test the spacecraft's readiness while the crew travels with it. On missions totaling more than 10 days
Earlier, the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) announced that Jenny Gibbons had been selected as Jeremy Hansen's backup astronaut. Gibbons and Douglas will train with the four real astronauts to prepare for the duties in case any of the prime crew members are not ready to travel to space.
NASA says the selection of a replacement crew for Artemis 2 has no bearing on future astronaut selection. As was the case during the Apollo program, NASA is not currently selecting astronauts to fly on Artemis 3 and other missions. After that, in any way.
Image: NASA
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