NASA names next astronauts to travel to International Space Station

(NewsNation) — NASA has released the names of the four astronauts expected to travel to the International Space Station this September.

NASA’s SpaceX Crew-13 mission will transport the astronauts to the space station, where they will stay and conduct research and demonstrations “to help prepare humans for future exploration missions to the Moon and Mars, and benefit people on Earth,” according to the space agency.

The announcement comes less than a month after the Artemis II mission returned to Earth following a historic lunar flyby that took astronauts farther from Earth than any humans in history.

NASA says work done aboard the space station helps to prepare for future Artemis missions, which aim to establish a sustained human presence on the Moon and eventually send the first astronauts to Mars. Artemis III is expected to launch mid-2027.

The Crew-13 mission is the thirteenth collaboration between NASA and Elon Musk’s SpaceX under the Commercial Crew Program, which aims to reliably, safely and cost-effectively transport astronauts to and from the International Space Station through a........

© The Hill