NASA revealed on Tuesday the international crew of four astronauts who will fly on the Artemis III mission, a vital test flight that the agency describes as one of the most highly complex missions it has undertaken. The announcement took place at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas.
NASA astronaut Randy Bresnik will command the mission. A member of the U.S. Marine Corps, Bresnik has flown to space twice and logged 149 days off the planet. European Space Agency astronaut Luca Parmitano, from Italy, will serve as pilot. Parmitano has also been to space twice, including one dangerous spacewalk that was cut short when he nearly drowned as his helmet filled up with water.
NASA's Frank Rubio and Andre Douglas will serve as mission specialists. Rubio served in the U.S. Army and is a board-certified family physician and flight surgeon. He has flown to space once, to the International Space Station on a Russian Soyuz capsule. After engineers discovered the spacecraft was damaged, Rubio's stay was extended while awaiting a new ride, and he set the record for longest spaceflight by an American at 371 days.
This will be the first spaceflight for Douglas. The Coast Guard reserve officer was selected as a NASA astronaut in 2021. He is a systems engineer with a doctorate from George Washington University. Douglas served as backup crew to Artemis II.
"This mission is going to be fantastic," Douglas said at Tuesday's crew announcement. "What an excellent crew. Got Artemis! Go NASA!"
A Critical Test Before Lunar Landing
While the Artemis III mission is crucial to future moon missions, it will remain closer to home in low-Earth orbit rather than traveling to the lunar surface. The mission will demonstrate the Orion spacecraft's rendezvous and docking capabilities with two commercially designed and built lunar landers.
The test represents a critical step as NASA prepares to return humans to the lunar surface as early as 2028, marking the first such landing since 1972. To accomplish this goal, the agency is relying on lunar landing vehicles designed and developed by private companies SpaceX and Blue Origin.
Artemis III will test the ability of the Orion crew capsule to rendezvous and dock with those landers not near the moon, but instead in low-Earth orbit. This approach allows NASA to validate critical systems in a more accessible environment before committing to operations near the lunar surface.
Mission Profile and Timeline Challenges
NASA administrator Jared Isaacman wants to launch this mission by the end of next year. However, an accident last month at Blue Origin's launch facility at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida brings some uncertainty to that timeline.
During a routine, prelaunch test, Blue Origin's New Glenn rocket exploded at its launch site, causing significant damage to the facility. Blue Origin's lunar lander for the Artemis III mission is scheduled to launch on New Glenn.
"While we recognize there are questions about how Blue Origin's recent anomaly impacts our plans, setbacks are a learning opportunity," said Blue Origin's John Couluris, speaking to NPR. "We are confident that New Glenn will be ready for Artemis III."
SpaceX is also working to develop its lander, completing a 12th test flight of the Starship system. The company has yet to launch Starship into orbit.
Passing the Baton
As the two companies prepare their landers for the Artemis III test, the crew is working with the Artemis II astronauts to prepare. "The most important Artemis mission will always be the next Artemis mission," Bresnik said.
At the crew announcement, the Artemis II astronauts handed over a baton, one that was carried during their mission around the moon and back, as a symbol of that step-by-step development that will help NASA achieve its ambitious goal of returning humans to the moon.
"We've been carrying these batons around for way too long," said Artemis II commander Reid Wiseman. "So with that, the Artemis II crew hands you the baton. You got the controls."
The symbolic gesture underscores the incremental nature of NASA's lunar exploration program, with each mission building upon the successes and lessons learned from its predecessor as the agency works toward establishing a sustained human presence on the moon.
