MD Native Leads NASA's Manned Moon Mission

BALTIMORE COUNTY, MD — Astronaut Reid Wiseman is on the verge of making history as the commander of NASA's manned moon mission.

He's one of four astronauts who will rocket from Earth toward the lunar satellite as part of the Artemis II mission.

This week's launch from Cape Canaveral in Florida is expected to take place Wednesday at 6:24 p.m.

Wiseman, selected as an astronaut in 2009, is a Baltimore County native who grew up in the Springdale neighborhood of Cockeysville.

Recalling his youth in the county, Wiseman previously told The Banner he spent a lot of his time with his brother, Bill. "We would just cruise around and learn how to live life," he said.



The astronaut graduated from Dulaney High School in 1993, later going on to get his bachelor's at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in New York.

He also earned his master's degree in systems engineering at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore while serving in the U.S. Navy.

The anticipated launch, however, won't mark the first time Wiseman has traveled toward the cosmos.

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In 2014, he spent over five months at the International Space Station as part of the agency's Expedition 41.

Crew members Christina Koch, Victor Glover and Jeremy Hansen round out the Artemis II mission. Hansen is the sole representative of the Canadian Space Agency.

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Should any hiccups occur in the lead-up to the launch, NASA has outlined backup times from April 2 to April 6, as well as April 30.

The Artemis mission will mark a pivotal step in NASA's efforts to return to the moon and expand missions further into space. The 10-day mission will see the crew carry out a flyby of the moon.

The last manned moon mission was Apollo 17 in 1972.