Former Longhorn shoots for the moon after being selected for new NASA team

NASA is getting ready to send astronauts to the moon again for the first time in 50 years, and this time the space agency promises to put the first woman on the moon, possibly including a University of Texas graduate.

In a group that NASA is calling "The Artemis Team," 18 of its 47 active astronauts from around the U.S. have been selected for training for the mission, including UT graduate Stephanie Wilson.

The mission hopes to get humans on the moon, "to stay," for the first time in the 21st century by 2024, with plans to make a trip to Mars next.

Wilson will undergo years of training alongside eight other women and nine men for the treacherous trip.

Hailing from Boston, Massachusetts, Wilson first studied at Harvard, where she earned a Bachelor of Science in engineering science in 1988. Her stint at UT started in 1990, where she earned a Master of Science in aerospace engineering.

While studying at UT, Wilson's research on structural dynamics methodologies and controller designs was sponsored by NASA's Langley Research Center through a NASA graduate researchers fellowship. She was selected as an astronaut by NASA in 1996.

Since, Wilson has served on three different space missions: STS-121 in 2006, STS-120 in 2007 and STS-131 in 2010. She currently works as the Mission Support Chew Branch Chief.

None of the chosen astronauts have been assigned to a particular Artemis mission yet, but this trip would be the longest Wilson has faced so far.

"I do my best to pass along the experience and the knowledge that I have gained from others in the office and with the next generation, so that we can have a better future for all of humanity," Wilson said in a video for NASA.

While she may not be a native Austinite, once a Longhorn, always a Longhorn, even in space.