The first woman, the next man on the moon will come from these NASA 18

NASA has named the 18 astronauts, half of them women, who will train for its Artemis lunar landing program.

The first woman and the next man on the moon will come from this elite group.

Vice President Mike Pence introduced the astronauts Wednesday at the close of their final meeting as president of the National Space Council. The announcement was made at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, underneath one of three remaining Saturn V lunar rockets from the Apollo program from the 1960s and 1970s.

Pence noted that the last of the 12 men to walk on the moon, the late Apollo 17 commander Gene Cernan, wanted nothing more than to remove “last” from his title. Cernan’s last lunar steps were on December 14, 1972.

“He spent the rest of his natural life advocating for America to return to the moon, and we are going to honor the memory of Gene Cernan,” Pence told the small crowd, sitting several feet from each other.

Five of the astronauts, the only ones present, took the stage, waving and wearing masks.

NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine emphasized that there would be more astronauts joining the group. NASA has 47 active astronauts.

The space agency is aiming for a moon landing by 2024, although the chances of that happening are increasingly slim. The upcoming management change also adds uncertainty.

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Half of NASA astronauts have experience in space flight. Two are on the International Space Station right now: Kate Rubins and Victor Glover.

The two astronauts who took the world’s first all-female spacewalk last year made the cut: Christina Koch and Jessica Meir.

It is a fairly young group, and most are between 30 and 40 years old. The oldest is 55, the youngest 32. Only two, Joe Finda and Stephanie Wilson, flew in the old NASA space shuttles.

“The story is amazing, but we are here to look to the future,” Fin told reporters after the announcement.

The other seasoned members on the list include Kjell Lindgren, Anne McClain, and Scott Tingle, all former residents of the space station.

“We are dreamers, but even more so, we are doers,” McClain said.

She wants children of all backgrounds to take note of the diverse lunar team: “The doors are open, come get us.”

Among those who have not yet launched into space: Kayla Barron, Raja Chari, Matthew Dominick, Woody Hoburg, Jonny Kim, Nicole Mann, Jasmin Moghbeli, Frank Rubio and Jessica Watkins.

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