NASA Names the Artemis III Crew Set to Test SpaceX and Blue Origin Moon Landers
NASA has revealed the four astronauts who will fly the Artemis III mission, a crucial test flight in Earth orbit that will rehearse the docking procedures needed to put humans back on the Moon for the first time in more than half a century.
The announcement came on Tuesday 9 June at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, where the agency introduced commander Randy Bresnik, pilot Luca Parmitano of the European Space Agency, and mission specialists Frank Rubio and Andre Douglas. NASA astronaut Bob Hines was named as the backup crew member and will train alongside the prime crew.
What the mission will do
Artemis III is scheduled to launch in 2027 aboard NASA's Space Launch System rocket from Kennedy Space Center in Florida, carrying the crew into low Earth orbit in the Orion spacecraft. Over roughly two weeks, the astronauts will carry out a series of rendezvous and docking tests with the two commercial lunar landers being developed for the programme: SpaceX's Starship and Blue Origin's Blue Moon Mark 2.
NASA describes it as one of the most complex human spaceflight missions it has ever attempted. The crew will need to prove that spacecraft built by different companies can link up safely in orbit, with hardware, software, propulsion and life support systems all working together across vehicles that have never docked with each other before.
The plan calls for Orion to dock with the Starship lander and remain attached for around a day. The astronauts will not enter the SpaceX vehicle, however, as this version of Starship will not yet be fitted with a life support system or a finished interior. The mission will end with a splashdown in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of California.
Jeremy Parsons, NASA's Artemis programme manager, said the flight will demonstrate that the agency and its partners can carry out highly choreographed operations with crew on board in the unforgiving environment of space.
Why it matters
The mission is the bridge between Artemis II, which carried astronauts around the Moon in April, and Artemis IV, the planned crewed landing at the lunar South Pole in 2028. As Bresnik put it, there is no lunar landing without this flight.
It is also a milestone for Europe. Parmitano's assignment marks the first time an ESA astronaut has been given a seat on an Artemis mission. ESA's director general Josef Aschbacher said the role reflects the depth of European expertise in human spaceflight, and noted that ESA's European Service Module will once again provide the power and propulsion behind Orion.
Who is flying
Randy Bresnik, commander. At 58, Bresnik is the most experienced member of the crew. A retired US Marine Corps colonel and former F/A-18 pilot, he flew on Space Shuttle Atlantis in 2009 and commanded the International Space Station in 2017. He has spent recent years helping oversee testing of Artemis hardware within the Astronaut Office.
Luca Parmitano, pilot. The 49 year old Italian is a former test pilot with the Italian Air Force and a veteran of two stints aboard the ISS. In 2019 he became the first Italian to command the station, and he has completed six spacewalks.
Frank Rubio, mission specialist. Rubio holds the American record for the longest single spaceflight after spending 371 days aboard the ISS, a stay extended when the spacecraft meant to bring him home was damaged.
Andre Douglas, mission specialist. Douglas will be making his first trip to space. Before joining NASA he worked at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, where he designed and tested autonomous vehicles and space exploration systems.
The challenges ahead
The crew has only about a year to prepare under the current timeline, a notably short runway compared with the three years of training the Artemis II astronauts received.
There are questions hanging over the hardware too. An explosion last month during testing of Blue Origin's New Glenn rocket destroyed the vehicle and damaged the company's launch pad at Cape Canaveral, raising uncertainty about whether the Blue Moon lander will be ready in time. Blue Origin has said the damage to the pad was less severe than first feared.
NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman framed the mission as a demonstration of what American industry and European partners can achieve together, with the race against China's growing lunar programme an unmistakable theme of the announcement. Whether the timeline holds or not, Artemis III now has its crew, and the path back to the Moon runs directly through them.