NASA Names Artemis III Crew for 2027 Low-Earth Orbit Test Mission, No Lunar Landing

NASA announced the crew for its Artemis III mission on Tuesday at the agency's Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. Randy Bresnik will command the flight, with European Space Agency astronaut Luca Parmitano serving as pilot and NASA astronauts Andre Douglas and Frank Rubio as mission specialists. Bob Hines was named backup crew member.

The mission is targeted for no earlier than 2027 and will remain in low-Earth orbit without traveling to the Moon or attempting a landing. Artemis III will test the Orion spacecraft's rendezvous and docking capabilities with two commercial lunar landers developed by SpaceX and Blue Origin.

The sequence begins with the uncrewed launch of Blue Origin's Blue Moon lander, which can remain in orbit for 90 days.

The Artemis III crew will launch aboard the Orion spacecraft on NASA's Space Launch System rocket from Kennedy Space Center in Florida. After rendezvous, the crew will dock with Blue Moon for about two days to test life support and control systems. SpaceX will then launch its Starship into low-Earth orbit.

Orion and the crew will dock with the Starship lander for about one day before returning aboard Orion and splashing down in the Pacific Ocean off California. Jeremy Parsons said the mission is expected to last about two weeks.

U.S. Marine Corps member selected in 2004, has flown to space twice and logged 149 days in space. He previously commanded the International Space Station for Expedition 53 in 2017.

U.S. Army officer, and board-certified family physician and flight surgeon, has flown once to the International Space Station on a Russian Soyuz capsule. He set the record for longest spaceflight by an American at 371 days.

U.S. Coast Guard reserve officer and systems engineer with a doctorate from George Washington University; this will be his first spaceflight. He served as backup crew to Artemis II.

At the announcement, Douglas said, "This mission is going to be fantastic. What an excellent crew. Got Artemis! " The Artemis II crew handed over a baton carried during their mission to the Artemis III crew.

NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman wants to launch Artemis III by the end of 2027. An accident last month at Blue Origin's launch facility at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida caused an explosion of the New Glenn rocket and significant damage to the facility. Blue Origin's lunar lander for Artemis III is scheduled to launch on the New Glenn rocket.

John Couluris of Blue Origin said, "While we recognize there are questions about how Blue Origin's recent anomaly impacts our plans, setbacks are a learning opportunity. " SpaceX has completed a 12th test flight of the Starship system but has yet to launch Starship into orbit. The Artemis III crew is working with the Artemis II astronauts to prepare.

Reid Wiseman said, "We've been carrying these batons around for way too long. So with that, the Artemis II crew hands you the baton. " NASA plans to return humans to the lunar surface in 2028 with the Artemis IV and V missions.

The Artemis III announcement occurred two months after Artemis II's lunar flyby.