STORY: :: An astronaut says the upcoming Artemis launch could help answer if humans are alone in the universe
:: March 29, 2026 / Cape Canaveral, Florida
:: Christina Koch, Astronaut
"The question about the why, the why of this mission. There's the industrial benefits, there's the commercial benefits, scientific technology, innovation, inspiration.// "Many, many countries have recognized the value that there is in exploring further into the solar system, to the moon and onto Mars. They recognize that not only can we gain all these extremely tangible benefits, but that we have the opportunity to answer the question that could be the question of our lifetime, which is, are we alone when we go out and meet people? People ask that all the time that answering that question starts at the moon. The moon is a witness plate to our entire solar system's formation. It's a stepping stone to Mars, where we might have the most likelihood of finding evidence of past life."
The four astronauts selected for NASA's Artemis II mission arrived in Florida on Friday, entering the final phase of preparations for the first crewed journey toward the Moon in more than five decades.
NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen could launch to space as soon as April 1 aboard NASA's towering Space Launch System (SLS) rocket.
