(The Center Square) – Andre Douglas didn’t get picked to go to the moon, but he’ll still get a moment that’s out of this world.

Next year, Douglas from NASA and fellow backup astronaut Jenni Gibbons from the Canadian Space Agency will be in the Orion capsule on top of the powerful Space Launch System rocket at Cape Canaveral. They will strap in the Artemis II crew and close the hatch as the last people NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen will see before heading toward the first crewed orbit of the moon since 1972.

Originally published on thecentersquare.com, part of the BLOX Digital Content Exchange.