NASA Announces International Crew for Artemis III Test Flight
NASA has named a four-person crew, including a U.S. Marine Corps commander and an ESA pilot, for the Artemis III mission that will test Orion’s docking with commercial lunar landers in low-Earth orbit.
NASA revealed the four-person crew that will fly on the Artemis III mission, scheduled for launch as early as next year. The crew will conduct a low-Earth-orbit test of Orion’s rendezvous and docking capabilities with two privately built lunar landers before the agency’s planned return to the Moon.
Commander Randy Bresnik, a U.S. Marine Corps officer who has spent 149 days in space, will lead the mission. ESA astronaut Luca Parmitano, an Italian pilot with two spaceflights, will serve as pilot. Mission specialists will be former Army flight surgeon Frank Rubio, who set a U.S. record with a 371-day stay on the International Space Station, and Coast Guard reserve officer Andre Douglas, a systems engineer making his first spaceflight.
"This mission is going to be fantastic," Bresnik said at the announcement in Houston.
The flight will first launch Blue Origin’s Blue Moon lander uncrewed, allowing it to remain in orbit for up to 90 days. The Orion capsule, launched on the SLS rocket, will then rendezvous and dock with the lander for about two days of system checks, including life-support and control functions. Afterward, SpaceX’s Starship will be launched, and Orion will dock with that lander for an additional day before returning to Earth with a Pacific splashdown.
NASA’s Jeremy Parsons noted that the test provides “key information on systems the lunar lander crew will depend on in an environment close to home versus four plus days away around the moon.”
The timeline could be affected by a recent New Glenn rocket explosion at Blue Origin’s launch site, which damaged facilities for the planned lander launch. Blue Origin’s John Couluris said the company views the setback as a learning opportunity and remains confident that New Glenn will be ready for Artemis III.
SpaceX continues development of its Starship lander, having completed a 12th test flight but not yet achieving orbital launch. The Artemis III crew is also coordinating with astronauts from the preceding Artemis II mission, symbolically receiving a baton from them as part of the program’s step-by-step progression toward a lunar landing.
