Pence announces pool of U.S. astronauts for planned moon mission

FILE PHOTO: U.S. Vice President Mike Pence waves to supporters at the end of a rally in Kinston, North Carolina, U.S., October 25, 2020. REUTERS/Jonathan Drake

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Vice President Mike Pence on Wednesday announced 18 astronauts chosen for possible participation in planned NASA missions to return to the moon's surface during the final U.S. space policy meeting before he and President Donald Trump leave office next month.At a meeting of the White House's National Space Council at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, Pence unveiled the pool of nine women and nine men who could go to the moon under NASA's Artemis program, intended to put people back on the lunar surface for the first time since the 1970s.

All of the astronauts to reach the moon thus far have been men. The mission's target date is 2024, though that is expected to slip.