NASA Names Four Astronauts For Artemis III Orbital Test Mission Ahead Of 2028 Moon Landing

NASA announced on Tuesday, June 9. the four-member primary crew for its 2027 Artemis III mission, an Earth-orbit test flight designed to validate critical spacecraft systems ahead of a planned human return to the lunar surface.

NASA astronaut Randy Bresnik will command the mission, alongside European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Luca Parmitano as pilot. The assignment marks the first time a European astronaut has been named to an Artemis flight crew. NASA astronauts Andre Douglas and Frank Rubio will serve as mission specialists, while astronaut Bob Hines was designated as the backup crew member.

The upcoming two-week mission will bypass the Moon to operate entirely in low Earth orbit. There, the crew will conduct complex rendezvous and docking maneuvers with prototype commercial human landing systems currently under development by Blue Origin and SpaceX.

"Artemis III will demonstrate the power of American innovation and international partnership as we test complex rendezvous and docking operations," NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said in a statement, noting that the flight involves a highly coordinated multi-launch campaign of heavy-lift rockets.

The test flight serves as an essential stepping stone for Artemis IV, which is scheduled to execute the first crewed landing at the lunar South Pole in 2028. It builds directly on the Artemis II flight completed in April, acting as part of the foundational framework for eventual crewed missions to Mars.

According to NASA, technical preparation for the flight is advancing rapidly. Engineers plan to join the Orion crew module with its European-built service module and begin rocket stacking for the Space Launch System (SLS) this summer. During the mission, Orion is scheduled to spend approximately two days docked with Blue Origin’s lander pathfinder and one day connected to SpaceX’s Starship pathfinder before returning for a Pacific Ocean splashdown.