NASA is preparing for its first crewed voyage to the moon in more than 50 years. On board will be Reid Wiseman, commander of Artemis II who has ties to New York.

For Wiseman, space was always an option.

“I love the mission," he said. "I’ve always wanted to be in the air. I love flying.”

Wiseman attended Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

“Spent four good years up in Troy, New York, mostly great. RPI is a tough school,” he said.

After completing a degree in computer engineering and time with Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC), it was off to the Navy, where Wiseman would fly for 12 years.

“It was truly a fantastic job," he recalled. "I became a test pilot, so I got to blend a lot of science and engineering that I had learned at Rensselaer into my daily work in the Navy.”

Wiseman joined NASA in 2009. In 2014, he spent more than 165 days in space, serving as a flight engineer aboard the International Space Station.

“Your mind just can’t really even process what you’re looking at, but it’s far more beautiful than I could’ve ever imagined,” Wiseman said.

Wiseman is now preparing to command a lunar flyby mission set to launch in November 2024.

“I can’t wait to go fly this mission, first time in over 50 years we’ll be in the deep space area with humans trying to untie the world through this successful endeavor,” he said.

Over the course of about 10 days, Wiseman and his crew will test the Orion spacecraft, its life-support systems and various other new technologies.

“Our true, down and in task will be focused on making sure this spacecraft is ready to go for the follow-up missions,” Wiseman said.

Becoming an astronaut may seem like an impossible task, but Wiseman has this message.

“My first thought is I want to go give them a hug and tell them to go study hard, because that school does teach you how to fail and it teaches you how to be resilient,” he said.

It's something the RPI engineer will take with him to outer space.

“Find that thing that lights your fire and get after it,” Wiseman said.