ESA Names Shaun the First 'Astronaut' to Fly on the Artemis I Lunar Mission

Shaun has been assigned a seat on the Artemis I mission to the Moon, ESA (The European Space Agency) has today announced!

Shaun's very special mission was announced by ESA's Director for Human and Robotic Exploration, Dr David Parker. Shaun will be flying on the Artemis I mission, which will be the first flight of NASA's Orion spacecraft with an ESA European Service Module, planned to go around the Moon and back.

The mission will be launched at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, USA. It will perform a flyby of the Moon, using lunar gravity to gain speed and propel itself 70,000 km beyond the Moon, almost half a million km from Earth - further than any human - or sheep! - has ever travelled.

To prepare for his epic adventure, Shaun has taken part in a programme of astronaut training, travelling to various locations across Europe and the USA to get to know his spacecraft and the stages of his mission. He also experienced a flight on the Airbus 'Zero G' A310 which recreates the weightless conditions similar to those experienced in space.

You'll be able to see what Shaun got up to in his pre-launch training in a series of blog posts on the ESA website, as well as mission updates throughout Shaun's lunar adventure. We're so excited to see what Shaun will be getting up to as he makes history as the first sheep in space and one of the first astronauts to fly an Artemis mission. Be sure to follow Shaun's social pages for the latest news.