NASA astronaut Joseph Acaba speaks to members of the news media during a question-and-answer session Dec. 9, 2020, following a National Space Council meeting inside the Apollo/Saturn V Center at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida. Vice President Mike Pence chaired the meeting at which he announced the initial team of 18 astronauts eligible for early Artemis missions on and around the Moon. A California native, Acaba was selected as a NASA astronaut in 2004 and has logged a total of 306 days in space on three flights. He was joined at the event by fellow astronauts Matthew Dominick, Jessica Meir, Anne McClain, and Jessica Watkins. Under the Artemis program, NASA will land the first woman and the next man on the Moon in 2024.