Somewhere in the quiet machinery of Houston, a handful of people are weighing the careers and temperaments of forty-one astronauts, deciding who will carry the human story back past the moon for the first time in more than half a century. The choice is being made largely out of public view, with the agency's leadership saying little about how it will unfold and its administrator stepping aside on purpose. It is a small human decision standing at the edge of a very large one, the return of people toward another world, and the names that emerge this spring will carry the weight of everyone who n
Inside NASA's Secretive Process for Choosing the First Artemis II Moon Crew
Terra incognita. Nobody knows.
Mark
Why does it matter that the process is so secretive?
Mimi
Because this is the first crew to leave Earth orbit in decades, and the people choosing are a small group in Houston. Even insiders say they don't know how it works.
Luke
Worth noting that the process described, chief to Knight to Wyche, comes from sources speaking to CNN. NASA hasn't published it.
Mark
What about Wiseman being the favorite?
Mimi
He just left the chief job, which can't fly, and former astronaut Garrett Reisman says chiefs have traditionally taken the best seat afterward.
Luke
That's a pattern Reisman describes, not a promise. Nothing confirms Wiseman has been picked.
Mark
Does diversity shape the choice?
Mimi
NASA has stressed it. If Wiseman is chosen, the other seats would almost certainly include a woman and a person of color.
Luke
Notice that's a reading by insiders. NASA hasn't said how it will weigh anything.
Mark
And the list of eight?
Mimi
It's CNN's list, built from what people familiar with the process said.
Luke
Right, so it's a shortlist of buzz, not an official roster. The final four could differ.
Der Puls
- NASA's Artemis II crew, four people headed around the moon, will be chosen this spring in a process few outside the agency can see clearly.
- Decision authority sits with Johnson Space Center leaders, while Washington has deliberately stepped back from naming the crew.
- Reid Wiseman, who recently left the astronaut office chief role, tops most insiders' lists, with several strong contenders close behind.
- The chosen crew will test a rocket that has flown successfully only once, raising the stakes for every seat on the spacecraft.
- The announcement is expected in spring, and the outcome will set the stage for Artemis III and the first lunar landing this century.
Somewhere in the quiet machinery of Houston, a handful of people are weighing the careers and temperaments of forty-one astronauts, deciding who will carry the human story back past the moon for the first time in more than half a century. The choice is being made largely out of public view, with the agency's leadership saying little about how it will unfold and its administrator stepping aside on purpose. It is a small human decision standing at the edge of a very large one, the return of people toward another world, and the names that emerge this spring will carry the weight of everyone who never got to go.
This spring, NASA is expected to name the first four people who will fly to the moon under the Artemis program. The Artemis II mission, planned for 2024, will carry a crew around the moon and back on a trip of roughly ten days, taking humans farther from Earth than anyone since Apollo. It is meant to pave the way for Artemis III, which would land astronauts on the lunar surface, aboard the most powerful rocket ever built.
Despite all the attention, the selection process remains hard to see, even for many inside NASA. The agency has said only that the crew will include three Americans and one Canadian. The decision will be made at Johnson Space Center in Houston, where recommendations move up through the chief astronaut, the flight operations director, and finally the center's director. NASA Administrator Bill Nelson has said Washington will stay out of it, and he admitted he does not know whether the crew has already been chosen.
At the top of most lists is Reid Wiseman, a naval aviator and test pilot who recently stepped down as chief of the astronaut office. Insiders say the chief has long enjoyed an unofficial privilege of taking the best available flight, though the choice still depends on practical details, such as whether a suit in the right size is ready. Other strong contenders include Victor Glover, Randy Bresnik, Christina Koch, Jessica Meir, Anne McClain, and Stephanie Wilson, with Jeremy Hansen the likeliest choice for the Canadian seat.
The pool is far more diverse than in the early Mercury days, and the crew will likely blend veterans with rookies, pilots with scientists, and people with different skills for demanding tasks. Whoever is named will ride a rocket that has flown only once successfully, and the spring announcement will show who NASA believes is ready to carry the mission around the moon.
Sometime this spring, NASA is expected to announce the first four people who will fly to the moon under the Artemis program. Artemis II is scheduled to launch in 2024, carrying a crew around the moon and back on a roughly 10-day trip. They will go farther from Earth than any humans since Apollo. The mission is meant to set up Artemis III, which would put astronauts on the lunar surface in 2025, aboard the most powerful rocket ever built, at a program cost approaching $100 billion by then.
For all that publicity, the way the crew gets chosen is opaque, even to many people inside the agency. NASA has said only that the crew will be three Americans and one Canadian. CNN spoke with nearly a dozen current and former NASA officials and astronauts to piece together how the decision will work and who is drawing the most attention.
The decision will be made at Johnson Space Center in Houston, where every U.S. astronaut has lived and trained since 1961. Sources said the chief astronaut, currently Drew Feustel in an acting role, will carry initial recommendations to Norm Knight, head of the Flight Operations Directorate. From there they go to Vanessa Wyche, director of Johnson, who signs off on the final four. NASA Administrator Bill Nelson, a former Democratic senator from Florida, confirmed to CNN in January that Washington leadership will stay out of it. He said he does not know whether the crew has been decided, and added that he should not. Former astronaut Mike Mullane described the process as terra incognita, at least in his era.
The name at the top of nearly everyone's list is Reid Wiseman, 47, a naval aviator and test pilot selected as an astronaut in 2009. He stepped down as chief of the astronaut office in November, two days before the uncrewed Artemis I launch. The chief historically picks initial crews but cannot fly. Former astronaut Garrett Reisman called it a lousy job that no one wants, though it has long carried an unofficial perk: departing chiefs gave themselves the best available flight. In August, Wiseman also reversed an earlier decision to draw the crew from an 18-member Artemis Team, opening the field to all 41 active NASA astronauts.
The pool is far more diverse than in the Mercury era, when all seven astronauts were white male military test pilots. More than a third of today's 41 are women and 12 are people of color. Only 16 are pilots; the rest are mission specialists in fields such as biology, oceanography, engineering and medicine. Insiders expect multiple test pilots on Artemis II, since it is the first crewed lunar test flight since Apollo and only the second flight of this vehicle. If Wiseman, who is white, is chosen, the other seats would almost certainly include at least one woman and at least one person of color.
CNN's list of eight leading candidates includes Wiseman and Victor Glover, 46, who piloted the second crewed SpaceX Crew Dragon flight and spent nearly six months on the International Space Station. Randy Bresnik, 55, is a naval aviator who flew combat missions in Iraq and has made two station flights; since 2018 he has overseen the astronaut office's work on Artemis hardware. Among the women are Christina Koch, 43, who holds the record for longest single spaceflight by a woman at 328 days, and Jessica Meir, 45, a biologist. They made the first all-female spacewalk together in 2019. Anne McClain, 43, an Army pilot who flew more than 200 combat missions, spent over 200 days on the station. Stephanie Wilson, 56, selected in 1996, flew three shuttle missions, including the first after the 2003 Columbia disaster. The Canadian seat is most likely to go to Jeremy Hansen, 47, a fighter pilot still awaiting his first flight about 14 years after selection.
Even among such qualified people, Reisman said, small things can decide the outcome, such as whether a spacesuit size is available. He called the process not always equitable or transparent. NASA also typically seeks a blend of rookies and veterans and of military pilots and scientists, and Reisman noted that astronauts differ in skills like spacewalking and robotics, which matters on tricky missions.
Watch for the spring announcement. Whoever is named will ride a rocket that has flown successfully only once.
Bemerkenswerte Zitate
That is done by the people at the Johnson Space Center. They will make the decision.— NASA Administrator Bill Nelson
Being chief is a crummy, lousy job.— Garrett Reisman, former NASA astronaut
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