NASA’s Artemis II Astronauts Reveal Mission Patch

The human spaceflight mission patch is a long and storied tradition for NASA. Now the next astronauts to fly to the moon have a mission patch to represent their historic spaceflight.
In early April, NASA unveiled the official Artemis II insignia, its first emblem for a crew on a Moon-bound mission in 50 years.
The four-person crew will wear the patch on their flight suits when they launch on the Artemis II mission, currently set for no later than April 2026. When the four launch in the Orion spacecraft atop NASA’s Space Launch System rocket, they will be the first humans to venture around the Moon since Apollo 17 in 1972. Their journey around the Moon and back is scheduled for 10 days.
The crew includes NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, who will serve as commander; Victor Glover, mission pilot; and NC State alum Christina Koch, mission specialist; as well as Canadian Space Agency (CSA) astronaut Jeremy Hansen, second mission specialist.
The crew’s mission emblem includes design elements that symbolize the past, present and future of human space exploration. The crew explained the mission patch in this statement released by NASA:
“The Artemis II test flight begins when a mighty team launches the first crew of the Artemis generation. This patch designates the mission as ‘All,’ signifying not only the second major flight of the Artemis campaign, but also an endeavor of discovery that seeks to explore for all and by all. Framed in Apollo 8’s famous Earthrise photo, the scene of the Earth and the Moon represents the dual nature of human spaceflight, both equally compelling: The Moon represents our exploration destination, focused on discovery of the unknown. The Earth represents home, focused on the perspective we gain when we look back at our shared planet and learn what it is to be uniquely human. The orbit around Earth highlights the ongoing exploration missions that have enabled Artemis to set sights on a long-term presence on the Moon and soon, Mars.”
The last names of the crew complete the design.
The Artemis II crew will not enter lunar orbit like Frank Borman, Jim Lovell and Bill Anders did in December 1968 on the Apollo 8 mission. But they will see some of the same sights they did as they fly beyond the Moon and then loop back to return to Earth.
The rocket for Artemis II is currently being assembled inside the Vehicle Assembly Building at the Kennedy Space Center in central Florida. If all goes well, testing will be done at Launch Pad 39B later this year.
Watch Sci NC’s interview with Christina Koch about the Artemis II mission to learn more.