Artemis III Crew Announced By NASA

NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman announced Monday, the four-person crew for the Artemis III mission at an event in Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. The crew, expected to launch in 2027, consists of Commander Randy Bresnik, Pilot Luca Parmitano (European Space Agency), and Mission Specialists Frank Rubio and Andre Douglas, with Bob Hines named as backup.

Isaacman described the mission as the beginning of a new era, likening it to the start of Earth’s first "Starfleet" and emphasizing that the mission is designed to take calculated risks to ensure future lunar safety.

"You carry the fire of exploration from generations past, the confidence of this agency, and the support of this nation, and the dreams of millions who will be cheering you on, knowing that what others believe to be impossible happens to be what we do best here at NASA," Isaacman said during the proceedings.

Unlike the lunar flyby of Artemis II, Artemis III will remain in low Earth orbit for about two weeks to test critical systems before the first lunar landing attempt in 2028. The primary goal is to practice rendezvous and docking procedures with two commercially developed lunar landers: SpaceX’s Starship HLS and Blue Origin’s Mark 2. This mission profile mirrors the Apollo 9 flight, serving as a necessary test of the spacecraft and life support systems in Earth orbit before proceeding to the Moon.

NASA is targeting mid- to late 2027 for Artemis 3, which will fly a very different mission that will last longer than Artemis 2 while remaining much closer to home. The ultimate goal of the Artemis program is to return astronauts to the surface of the moon, where NASA intends to establish a permanent base.

Artemis 3 will be a significant stepping stone toward that endeavor, but won't fly beyond low Earth orbit (LEO). If all goes according to plan the four newly assigned astronauts of Artemis 3 will rendezvous and dock the Orion spacecraft with Starship HLS or Mark 2, and lay the groundwork for future Artemis missions to the moon. Ultimately, the mission will allow NASA to test out much of the most cutting-edge hardware in the American spaceflight portfolio.

"Artemis 3 will be an extraordinary demonstration of what is possible when the greatest aerospace companies across the United States, alongside our European partners come together to showcase the technological might and ambition of the free world," Isaacman said during the event. "This seems like the beginning of the future that we imagined as children. This seems like the very beginning of Earth's first Starfleet to me"

Artemis 3's Orion crew capsule will launch on NASA's Space Launch System (SLS) rocket into LEO, where it will rendezvous with the Blue Origin's Blue Moon lander (which will launch on one of the company's New Glenn rockets) and SpaceX's Starship.

NASA’s Artemis program manager Jeremy Parsons highlighted the complexity of coordinating multiple launch pads and vehicles. However, Blue Origin executives expressed confidence in their timeline despite a recent New Glenn rocket explosion that damaged their launch pad. SpaceX continues to test its Starship vehicle.

"Artemis 3 is an incredibly exciting, complicated, and highly coordinated multi-launch campaign. It's going to happen in a short period of time with three of the world's most powerful rockets," Parsons said during Tuesday's event.

The goal will be to practice docking maneuvers and operations between the vehicles. Both SpaceX and Blue Origin were awarded contracts through NASA's Human Landing System (HLS) program, but each has faced developmental delays that have prompted NASA's willingness to fly Artemis 3 with either or both landers, depending on their availability.

Bresnik, a retired Marine colonel and Space Shuttle veteran, has previously served as ISS commander and will lead the mission.

Parmitano an Italian astronaut and ESA pilot, is a veteran of two ISS expeditions and previously survived a life-threatening water leak incident during a spacewalk.

Rubio, a physician and Army veteran, he holds the record for the longest single spaceflight by an American astronaut at 371 days.

Douglas, a test engineer and Coast Guard commander, this will be his first spaceflight after serving as backup for Artemis II.

Hines, selected as a backup astronaut for Artemis 3, joined NASA's 2017 astronaut class after serving 23 years in the United State Air Force as a fighter pilot and instructor. Hines previously flew to space aboard the SpaceX Crew-4 mission to the International Space Station in 2022 where he logged 170 days in space.

During Tuesday's ceremony, the three NASA astronauts of the Artemis 2 crew including commander Reid Wiseman passed the (literal) Artemis baton to the new crew.

"I know all of us are very touched by the thoughtful symbolism of the passing of the baton, but I think now, after your mission, you're passing us something far greater," Bresnik said. "The world watched your mission, and over the course of those 10 days, we saw how you inspired people worldwide. You saw how something was ignited within people. It was ignited within all of us by watching your mission."

"We, the Artemis 3 crew, are honored to be able to carry this torch forward, to be able to execute our mission, to make that flame burn brighter and pass that flame on to the next crew," Bresnik added.

Somne of the prep work is already underway for Artemis 3. Elements of the mission's SLS rocket are already taking shape at NASA centers and commercial partner facilities. The main stage propellant tank arrived at Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida in April, and the final segments of the launch vehicle's solid rocket boosters recently departed Northrop Grumman's manufacturing facility on a train ride to KSC for stacking and SLS integration. Orion is also at KSC, undergoing final assembly and testing inside the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building.