NASA has a backup astronaut standing by for the primary human moon mission in additional than 50 years, which can raise off no sooner than 2025.NASA astronaut Andre Douglas will function backup for the three U.S. astronauts on the Artemis 2 round-the-moon flight, the company introduced at this time (July 3). Douglas will again up commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover and mission specialist Christina Koch. Canadian Area Company (CSA) astronaut Jeremy Hansen, who can also be a mission specialist on Artemis 2, already has a backup: astronaut Jenni Gibbons, additionally with CSA.Associated: New NASA astronauts rejoice moon missions, non-public area stations as they prepare for liftoff (unique)”I’ve at all times been fascinated with new issues. I prefer to develop issues,” Douglas instructed Area.com in March concerning the Artemis program, which later this decade goals to place astronauts on the moon’s floor for the primary time since 1972. “I actually consider in pushing ourselves, in understanding what’s our true potential: each me as a person, [and] inside all of us as a species.””That is the right place to be, the place we’ll push that boundary,” he stated.Douglas was chosen as an astronaut candidate by NASA in 2021, and graduated to full astronaut standing in March this yr after passing his coaching. Previous to becoming a member of the company, he served within the U.S. Coast Guard in quite a few roles, and purchased a number of post-doctoral levels in technical fields starting from naval structure to methods engineering.Instantly earlier than astronaut choice, Douglas was a senior skilled workers member on the Johns Hopkins College Utilized Physics Lab (APL) engaged on a number of high-profile area missions. “That was a favourite time,” Douglas stated.Breaking area information, the newest updates on rocket launches, skywatching occasions and extra!NASA astronaut Andre Douglas, additionally backup astronaut for moon mission Artemis 2, taking a look at a geologic pattern he collected throughout a simulated moonwalk. The tour was held at night time within the San Francisco Volcanic Subject in northern Arizona on Could 16, 2024. (Picture credit score: NASA/Josh Valcarcel)He was a fault administration engineer, for instance, on NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Take a look at (DART). The historic mission was the primary to efficiently change the orbit of an asteroid moonlet round a bigger area rock after a deliberate 2022 collision.”I used to be writing scripts of a software program venture to assist put the spacecraft in a secure mode, if something was anomalous,” Douglas stated, noting the mission was “very superior” because it demonstrated kinetic planetary protection towards hazardous asteroids is doubtlessly workable.Moreover, Douglas labored on a serious instrument for the Martian Moons Exploration (MMX) mission, scheduled to fly to the Crimson Planet in late 2026. The instrument is known as MEGANE (Mars-moon Exploration with Gamma Ray and Neutrons) and can assist a serious mission purpose of studying the composition of Phobos and Deimos, the 2 moons of Mars.Associated: Serving to construct instrument for Japanese Mars mission ‘a favourite time’ for brand spanking new NASA astronaut (unique)An illustration of NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Take a look at,or DART, because it approaches its goal moonlet across the asteroid Didymos. (Picture credit score: NASA/Johns Hopkins APL)In Could, Douglas even tried moonwalking simulations within the area: he labored for per week on the San Francisco Volcanic Subject close to Flagstaff, Arizona, alongside NASA astronaut Kate Rubins, to check out up to date spacesuits within the moon-like desert space throughout daylight and nighttime circumstances.”Andre’s academic background and intensive operational expertise in his varied jobs previous to becoming a member of NASA are clear proof of his readiness to assist this mission,” Joe Acaba, chief astronaut at NASA’s Johnson Area Heart in Houston, stated within the company assertion concerning the Artemis 2 backup choice.”He excelled in his astronaut candidate coaching and technical assignments,” Acaba added, “and we’re assured he’ll proceed to take action as NASA’s backup crew member for Artemis 2.”Artemis 2 is leaning on a various set of expertise in its crew: Glover, Koch and Hansen would be the first Black individual, lady and non-American to go across the moon, respectively. Earlier this yr, the mission liftoff was pushed again 9 months to September 2025 to account for additional testing on the warmth protect, amongst different important objects. Artemis 3, a touchdown effort, is predicted to occur no sooner than 2026.In interviews with Area.com in Could, three of the Artemis 2 crew members (Koch was not out there) emphasised that developmental missions should transfer on the tempo of security and studying, and that assembly schedules shouldn’t be the target.”On the finish of the day,” Hansen instructed Area.com on the time, “I feel it is also essential to acknowledge we are going to by no means have the ability to make this danger zero. We are going to be taught the whole lot we will in our testing services, and [in what] science can obtain on the bottom. After which finally, we’ll nonetheless have some unknown danger that we’ll have to just accept. “However that is a part of area exploration.”