Michiganders Help NASA Return To The Moon

Drew Feustel, an astronaut from Lake Orion, Michigan serves as the Deputy Chief of the Astronaut Office for NASA. Part of his job is to make sure others are prepared for a moon landing by 2024.

Drew holds the record for being third in the world for time spent spacewalking. He’s also second when it comes to U.S. astronauts. NASA's project to return to the moon is called the Artemis Program, which is named after the twin sister of Apollo. The mission is slated to have a woman and another man land on the moon by 2024.

Ryan Cummings from Fox 17 spoke with Drew. He said of his space experience,

“It’s overwhelming in many ways to view the earth from that vantage point, to understand our perspective in the universe. You see sort of the third dimension of space when you’re out there understanding that earth is floating beneath you and your spacecraft is orbiting above.”

Part of Drew's responsibilities have been making sure things are ready from suits and spacewalks to facilities and mobility. The Orion spacecraft is currently going through tests making sure that the astronauts will be safe.

Christina Koch, a Grand Rapids native, is one of 18 astronauts working on the Artemis Program. Could we have a Grand Rapids native as the first women on the moon? Christina is eligible for assignment on this mission to the moon.

There will be four people on a spacecraft that will circle the moon to test the systems for lunar orbit. Artemis 3 will send four astronauts to the moon, but only two of them will descend to the surface for about six days. You can learn more about the NASA mission here.