Christina Koch. NASA photo.
By Rob Alway, Editor-in-Chief
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — When NASA’s Artemis II mission launches Wednesday, April 1, a west Michigan native will be aboard, marking a historic milestone not only for the nation’s return to deep space exploration, but also for Michigan’s legacy in human spaceflight.
Christina Hammock Koch, a Grand Rapids native, will serve as a mission specialist on Artemis II, becoming the first woman ever to travel to the Moon. The mission, part of NASA’s Artemis program, will send a crew of four astronauts on a 10-day journey around the Moon and back to Earth — the first crewed lunar mission since the Apollo era more than 50 years ago.
Koch, an electrical engineer and veteran astronaut, previously set a record for the longest single spaceflight by a woman, spending 328 days aboard the International Space Station between 2019 and 2020. Her selection for Artemis II represents a significant step forward in expanding diversity in space exploration.
Artemis II is ready to launch from Launch Complex 39B at Kennedy Space Center
The Artemis II crew also includes commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, and mission specialist Jeremy Hansen of the Canadian Space Agency. Together, they will test NASA’s Orion spacecraft and Space Launch System rocket in preparation for future lunar landings.
Artemis II will be the first crewed flight of NASA’s Orion spacecraft and the Space Launch System (SLS), the most powerful rocket ever developed by the agency. After launch from Kennedy Space Center, the spacecraft will orbit Earth before performing a translunar injection burn, sending the crew on a trajectory around the Moon.
The mission will not land on the lunar surface but will instead conduct a “free return” trajectory, looping around the Moon and returning safely to Earth without requiring additional propulsion in the event of an emergency. During the flight, astronauts will test critical life-support systems, navigation, communications, and manual spacecraft operations — all necessary steps before astronauts attempt a landing.
Artemis II builds upon the success of Artemis I, an uncrewed mission that launched in November 2022 and successfully orbited the Moon, demonstrating the capabilities of Orion and SLS. That mission paved the way for human crews to return to deep space for the first time since the Apollo program ended in 1972.
Official crew portrait for Artemis II, from left: NASA Astronauts Christina Koch, Victor Glover, Reid Wiseman, Canadian Space Agency Astronaut Jeremy Hansen. NASA photo.
The Artemis program itself represents NASA’s long-term strategy to establish a sustained human presence on and around the Moon. Artemis III, currently planned as the next major step, aims to land astronauts on the lunar surface — including the first woman and the first person of color — near the Moon’s south pole, a region believed to contain water ice.
Future Artemis missions are expected to include construction of the Lunar Gateway, a space station that will orbit the Moon and serve as a staging point for surface missions, as well as continued development of human landing systems and deep space exploration technologies. NASA officials have also emphasized that Artemis will serve as a proving ground for eventual human missions to Mars.
Koch’s role continues a tradition of astronauts with ties to west Michigan.
Roger B. Chaffee
Among them is Roger B. Chaffee, who grew up in Grand Rapids and was one of three astronauts who perished in the tragic Apollo 1 fire during a pre-launch test in 1967. Chaffee remains one of Michigan’s most revered figures in space history.
Jack R. Lousma
Another notable astronaut is Jack R. Lousma, a native of Grand Rapids. Lousma flew on two space missions, including Skylab 3 and Space Shuttle Columbia, and later ran for the U.S. Senate.
Michigan has produced several other astronauts over the decades, including David D. Irwin, Alfred M. Worden, and James A. McDivitt, further cementing the state’s connection to NASA’s human spaceflight program. In total, 13 astronauts have come from Michigan.
As Artemis II prepares for launch from Florida’s Space Coast, Michigan once again finds itself represented among the stars.
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