NASA has assigned the 4 astronauts who will fly the company’s subsequent crewed Area Launch System mission, an Earth-orbit take a look at flight designed to guage one or each human-rated lunar landers earlier than Artemis III.
Commanding the mission will probably be NASA astronaut Randy Bresnik, with ESA astronaut Luca Parmitano serving as pilot. NASA astronauts Frank Rubio and Andre Douglas spherical out the crew as Mission Specialists 1 and a pair of, respectively.
The flight, recognized internally as Artemis III-Prime or an analogous designation in present planning, will launch aboard the SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft into low-Earth orbit.
There, the crew will conduct rendezvous, docking, and operations with one or each lander automobiles—probably together with a inventory Model 3 Starship with a docking adapter, and Blue Origin’s Blue Moon MK2 demonstrator—gathering important information to de-risk the following lunar touchdown mission.
INTRODUCING: ARTEMIS III
Commander, Randy Bresnik
Pilot, Luca Parmitano
Mission Specialist 1, Frank Rubio
Mission Specialist 2, Andre Douglas@NASASpaceflight pic.twitter.com/s6M8jCeN11
— Ryan Caton (@dpoddolphinpro) June 9, 2026
Commander: Randy Bresnik
Randy Bresnik, a U.S. Marine Corps Colonel, has flown twice earlier than—as soon as on the Area Shuttle and as soon as on Soyuz.
He launched aboard STS-129 in November 2009 on Atlantis, performing two spacewalks in help of ISS development.
Randy Bresnik, far proper within the STS-129 crew portrait.
In 2017 he returned to the station on Soyuz MS-05 for a long-duration increment, conducting three extra EVAs centered on Canadarm2 upkeep and different station repairs, for a profession complete of 32 hours exterior.
Bresnik logged over 7,000 flight hours in 95 totally different plane varieties, together with fight missions within the F/A-18 Hornet, and served as an teacher on the F/A-18, T-38, and T-2.
His deep piloting background and station meeting expertise make him well-suited for the piloting-intensive goals of the Artemis III take a look at flight.
Pilot: Luca Parmitano
Pilot Luca Parmitano, an Italian Air Power Colonel and European Area Company astronaut, has flown two long-duration missions to the ISS.
Chosen in 2009, he first flew aboard Soyuz TMA-09M in 2013. That mission is remembered for a harrowing spacesuit anomaly throughout his second EVA when his helmet started filling with water on account of a clogged filter within the cooling system.
Parmitano and crewmate Chris Cassidy safely terminated the spacewalk and returned to the airlock regardless of water reaching his eyes, nostril, and mouth, reducing off communications.
Undeterred, Parmitano returned to the station in 2019 aboard Soyuz MS-13 and accomplished 4 extra EVAs, bringing his profession complete to 6.
A extremely skilled take a look at pilot with over 2,000 hours in additional than 20 varieties of fixed- and rotary-wing plane (and flight expertise in over 40), Parmitano’s piloting experience will probably be notably related for evaluating Orion’s dealing with qualities throughout rendezvous and proximity operations with the lander automobiles.
Mission Specialist 1: Frank Rubio
Frank Rubio brings in depth spaceflight and operational expertise to the commander’s seat. A U.S. Military Colonel and former helicopter pilot with greater than 1,100 flight hours—together with 600 fight hours in Bosnia, Iraq, and Afghanistan—Rubio was chosen by NASA in 2017.
He beforehand flew a record-setting mission to the Worldwide Area Station aboard Soyuz MS-22, launching in September 2022.
After a coolant leak pressured the abandonment of the unique Soyuz, Rubio and his crewmates spent 371 days in orbit, the longest single spaceflight by an American astronaut. Throughout that mission, he additionally collected greater than 21 hours of extravehicular exercise (EVA) time.
That long-duration endurance and EVA expertise will probably be helpful for the prolonged Orion flight and complicated operations deliberate for this take a look at mission.
Mission Specialist 2: Andre Douglas
Andre Douglas, a U.S. Coast Guard Commander, is the one member of the crew with no prior spaceflight, however he’s intimately accustomed to the Artemis program.
Chosen as a NASA astronaut in December 2021, Douglas served as backup crew for Artemis II and was a part of the closeout crew that strapped the prime crew into Orion for that mission’s launch.
“My mind goes a mile a minute proper now, however my coronary heart, it’s so heat. It’s so full.”
Artemis III mission specialist @Astro_AndreD displays on his journey and the individuals in his life who’ve supported him alongside the way in which. pic.twitter.com/LMgJYO9BXg
— NASA (@NASA) June 9, 2026
A Miami native, Douglas’s operational expertise and up to date intensive coaching with the Artemis II prime crew place him strongly for the demanding take a look at goals of this precursor flight.
Mission Standing and Timeline
NASA offered a standing replace on the first Artemis III lunar touchdown mission throughout the crew announcement occasion.
The company continues to work towards a 2028 goal for the primary crewed lunar touchdown of the Artemis program, although actual dates stay underneath evaluate as lander improvement and SLS/Orion flight schedules mature.
The upcoming crewed Earth-orbit take a look at flight will present important operational information on lander efficiency within the precise setting the Artemis III crew will encounter, serving to guarantee a secure and profitable return to the lunar floor.
(Lead Picture by way of Ryan Caton graphic of the Artemis III crew).
The submit Artemis III Crew Named: Veteran Astronauts to check Lunar Landers in LEO appeared first on NASASpaceFlight.com.
