NASA to announce astronauts chosen for Artemis II lunar flyby mission

NASA's next-generation moon rocket, the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket with the Orion crew capsule, is readied for launch on pad 39-B, for the unmanned Artemis 1 mission to the Moon, at Cape Canaveral, Florida, U.S. November 15, 2022. REUTERS/Joe Skipper

(Reuters) - NASA plans on Monday to introduce the four astronauts for its Artemis II lunar flyby mission, set for launch as early as next year in what would be the first crewed voyage around the moon since the end of the Apollo era more than 50 years ago.

Officials from the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), which is contributing an astronaut to the crew, will join their U.S. counterparts for the announcement in Houston at Johnson Space Center, NASA's mission control base.