NASA astronaut Andre Douglas, who is a backup crew member for Artemis 2, wearing an augmented reality device on his eye, during a field project at the San Francisco Volcanic Field in northern Arizona on May 21, 2024.NASA has a backup astronaut standing by for the first human moon mission in more than 50 years, which will lift off no earlier than 2025.
Immediately before astronaut selection, Douglas was a senior professional staff member at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Lab working on several high-profile space missions."That was a favorite time," Douglas said.Breaking space news, the latest updates on rocket launches, skywatching events and more!Receive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors
"I was writing scripts of a software project to help put the spacecraft in a safe mode, if anything was anomalous," Douglas said, noting the mission was"very awesome" as it demonstrated kinetic "Andre's educational background and extensive operational experience in his various jobs prior to joining NASA are clear evidence of his readiness to support this mission," Joe Acaba, chief astronaut at NASA's"He excelled in his astronaut candidate training and technical assignments," Acaba added,"and we are confident he will continue to do so as NASA's backup crew member for Artemis 2.