Artemis 2: What records will be made & broken during NASA's next Moon mission?

NASA's second mission to the Moon under the Artemis program is targeted for launch in 2024 and several records will be made and broken when it does. Named Artemis 2, the Moon mission will see four astronauts launch aboard the Orion spacecraft, which will be mounted atop NASA's most powerful rocket, the Space Launch System (SLS), for a ten-day-long trip around the Moon (without landing).

On April 3, NASA announced the Artemis 2 crew which includes Mission specialists Jeremy Hansen and Christina Koch, Mission pilot Victor Glover and Mission commander Reid Wiseman. 

Here they are. @SenBillNelson announces the #Artemis II crew, the next astronauts to fly around the Moon:@Astro_Christina@Astro_Jeremy@AstroVicGlover@Astro_Reid

We go together. https://t.co/XdUizg2Wye pic.twitter.com/6Yo4I2lKeJ

— NASA (@NASA) April 3, 2023

Major records to be made and broken with Artemis 2

1. Christina Koch will be the world's first woman to launch beyond the low-Earth orbit (LEO) and that too toward the Moon. She also has the record for the longest stay by a woman on the International Space Station (ISS) to her name. 

2. Victor Glover will be the first-ever astronaut from the African-American community to launch on a lunar mission. Previously, he has piloted NASA and SpaceX's Crew-1 mission and has logged in 3,000 flight hours in more than 40 different aircraft.

3. Jeremy Hansen, a Canadian national, will be the first non-American and Canadian to launch toward the Moon with Artemis 2. He will also be the 13th man to get close to the Moon on his first-ever spaceflight after the 12 from the Apollo Program. 

4. The astronauts will also set a new record for travelling the farthest distance from Earth by surpassing the 4,00,171 kilometers mark set by Apollo 13 astronauts back in April 1970. 

5. Artemis 2 will be the first-ever Moon mission to carry four people into the lunar orbit as the spacecraft used during the Apollo era five decades ago could only carry three. 

6. NASA will launch Artemis 2 aboard its most powerful rocket named the Space Launch System (SLS) or the SLS rocket, which is at least 15% more powerful than Saturn V used in the Apollo era.