NASA names Artemis III crew as mission prepares for 2027 tests

NASA announced the four prime crew members and a backup for the Artemis III test flight, a series of challenging tests in Earth orbit planned for 2027 that are essential for Artemis IV, the first planned crewed mission to the lunar South Pole in 2028. The agency will launch the Orion spacecraft aboard the SLS rocket from Kennedy Space Center to low Earth orbit, then demonstrate rendezvous and docking with test versions of American commercial human landing systems developed by Blue Origin and SpaceX.

The mission comprises a highly choreographed multi-launch campaign to test integrated hardware, including system interfaces, software, propulsion, and communications. The assigned crew is NASA astronaut Randy Bresnik, commander; ESA astronaut Luca Parmitano, pilot; NASA astronaut Andre Douglas, mission specialist; and NASA astronaut Frank Rubio, mission specialist.

NASA astronaut Bob Hines was named as a backup crew member.

United States, Kennedy Space Center

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