NASA names woman, Black astronauts to Artemis II crew in lunar first

The administrator of NASA Bill Nelson and astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Jeremy Hanson and Christina Koch, crew members of the Artemis II space mission to the moon and back, attend an NASA event in Houston, Texas, U.S., April 3, 2023. REUTERS/Go Nakamura

NASA on Monday named the first woman and the first African American ever assigned as astronauts to a lunar mission, introducing them as part of the four-member team chosen to fly on what would be the first crewed voyage around the moon in more than 50 years.

Christina Koch, 44, an engineer who already holds the record for longest continuous spaceflight by a woman and was part of NASA's first three all-female spacewalks, was named as a mission specialist for the Artemis II lunar flyby expected as early as next year.