NASA Introduces Artemis III Crew

NASA’s next batch of astronauts tasked with taking humanity back to the moon was unveiled to the world on June 9.

NASA astronauts Randy Bresnik, Frank Rubio, and Andre Douglas, as well as European Space Agency astronaut Luca Parmitano, will embark on what is being called one of the most complex missions ever attempted.

“We are certainly humbled as a crew to be able to be your crew that executes this Artemis III mission in space,” Bresnik, the mission’s commander, said at Johnson Space Center in Houston, “being that unifying link between the phenomenal Artemis II mission, we just had two months ago, and the Artemis IV mission that will follow ours, where we will again be the first to land humans on another celestial body, that celestial body being our neighbor in the sky at night, the moon.”

For about two weeks, the four will fly an upgraded Orion spacecraft in low Earth orbit. They will be the first to rendezvous and dock with the spacecraft built by Blue Origin and SpaceX to deliver their fellow astronauts to the surface of the moon. They will also be the first astronauts to enter those landers in space, test the new technologies, and wear a new spacesuit specifically designed to operate in the harsh environment of the lunar south pole.

All four astronauts will be backed up by NASA astronaut Bob Hines, who will be able to jump into any of the mission’s four roles if necessary, said NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman.

“Every aspect of Artemis III will give us insight into how to refine our plans for Artemis IV and beyond, and buy down risk,” said Jeremy Parsons, acting assistant deputy associate administrator for NASA’s moon to Mars program. “The mission, together with the uncrewed lander demonstrations to the moon, is specifically designed and targeted to the most significant risk for a lunar landing.”

“We will use this mission to reduce risk for our future crewed moon missions with lander test articles from both Blue Origin and SpaceX to ensure we will beat China back to the moon,” he added.

Artemis III follows the historic Artemis II mission that sent NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch, as well as Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen, around the moon and back in early April 2026.

Wiseman, Glover, and Koch were in attendance at Johnson Space Center to pass the baton to the new crew, which includes one of their own backup crew members, Douglas.

Artemis III will be a complex coordination of three separate space launches in 2027. Blue Origin’s New Glenn will go first, delivering the Blue Moon MK-2 lander into low Earth orbit. Isaacman said that the MK-2 lander will be able to stay in orbit for up to 90 days, thus providing a grace period for the crew to launch atop the Space Launch System moon rocket.

The Orion spacecraft will stay docked with Blue Origin’s lander for two days, with the crew venturing into the spacecraft, testing the technology, and demonstrating its systems.

This update comes only a few weeks after Blue Origin suffered a debilitating accident when its New Glenn rocket exploded on the launch pad in Florida, bringing the private spacefaring company’s launches to an abrupt halt.

“We are confident that New Glenn will be ready for Artemis III, together with Blue Origin,” Parsons said, “but NASA is stepping in and bringing all of our expertise and capabilities to bear. We are working hand in hand with them to meet our commitments to return our nation to the moon.”

SpaceX’s lander will launch second. The Human Landing System will be a variant of the V3 Starship that recently flew a test flight from Starbase, Texas. Artemis III will remain docked with that lander for about a day and then make preparations to return home.

In the meantime, Artemis III will also undertake an array of scientific objectives, including recording observations of how the Earth’s atmosphere impacts the Orion spacecraft and how the atmosphere is affected by space weather. It will also continue Artemis II’s work of developing the processes to make spaceflight aboard Orion safer, whether in Earth orbit or lunar orbit.

“We’re going to use this flight to buy down our risk for landed missions by developing our science processes, procedures, and readiness specifically for Orion to ensure the health and safety of our astronauts and spacecraft for our future Artemis missions,” said NASA science head Nicky Fox.