In brief
Commander Randy Bresnik, pilot Luca Parmitano, and mission specialists Andre Douglas and Frank Rubio will fly Artemis III. Bob Hines serves as backup.
Italian pilot Luca Parmitano becomes the first European Space Agency astronaut assigned to an Artemis mission.
The crew will test Orion's ability to dock with a lunar lander built by SpaceX, Blue Origin, or both.
Artemis III is scheduled to lift off in 2027, followed by a crewed south-pole landing on Artemis IV in 2028.
Mission specialist Andre Douglas will make his spaceflight debut on Artemis III.
- 16 NovArtemis I: uncrewed Orion orbits the Moon
- 1 NovArtemis II: crewed Orion flies around the Moon (Jeremy Hansen aboard)
- 1 JanArtemis III: crew tests Orion docking with lunar lander in low Earth orbit
- 1 JanArtemis IV: crewed landing at the lunar south pole
The crew
NASA announced the four-person crew for the Artemis III mission during a press conference at Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Tuesday. Commander Randy Bresnik (NASA), pilot Luca Parmitano (European Space Agency), and mission specialists Andre Douglas and Frank Rubio (both NASA) will fly the Orion capsule to low Earth orbit. Bob Hines, also a NASA astronaut, was named as the backup crew member. For Andre Douglas, the flight will be his first space mission.
“You carry the fire of exploration from past generations, the trust of this agency and the support of this nation, as well as the dreams of millions of people who will be cheering you on, knowing that what others consider impossible turns out to be what we at NASA do best.”
The mission profile
Artemis III will launch aboard the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket. Once in low Earth orbit, the crew will test docking the Orion capsule with one or more lunar landers. The lander hardware is being developed by SpaceX, Blue Origin, or both companies. The docking test is a prerequisite for later missions that aim to put astronauts back on the lunar surface.
Europe's milestone
Luca Parmitano, a former fighter pilot, will become the first ESA astronaut to fly on an Artemis mission. The previous flight, Artemis II, carried Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen around the Moon aboard Orion. Parmitano's inclusion marks a deepening of international partnership in the Artemis programme.
The roadmap ahead
Artemis III is scheduled to launch in 2027. The following mission, Artemis IV, is planned for 2028 and targets a crewed landing at the lunar south pole. The ultimate goal of the Artemis programme is to establish a sustained human presence on the Moon.