American media reported on Wednesday, citing the space agency, that NASA has announced the names of four astronauts who will travel to low-earth orbit to test lunar landing modules as part of the Artemis III mission.
NASA confirms crew for critical orbital trials
Next year, Randy Bresnik (commander), Luca Parmitano (pilot), Frank Rubio and Andre Douglas (mission specialists) will journey into orbit to conduct tests on two commercial lunar landing systems. NASA astronaut Bob Hines has been named as the backup crew member.
Under the Artemis III programme, NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket will launch the Orion spacecraft with the crew aboard from the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida into a low-Earth orbit. Following system checks of Orion, the spacecraft will, for the first time, demonstrate rendezvous and docking capabilities with test versions of one or both American commercial human landing systems being developed by Blue Origin and SpaceX.
Blue Origin is developing a lunar version of its Blue Moon lander for crewed missions, while SpaceX is preparing a human-rated lunar Starship. Both companies are building test articles specifically for the Artemis III mission.
After a successful docking with Blue Moon and Starship, Orion will undock with its crew and return to earth. The astronauts are expected to spend approximately two weeks in space.
Meet the crew: Veterans and a rookie
For Randy Bresnik, this will be his third space mission. He was selected by NASA as an astronaut candidate in 2004. A retired colonel in the US Marine Corps, he has logged more than 7,000 flight hours across 95 aircraft types and is a member of the Society of Experimental Test Pilots. Since 2018, he has served as the assistant chief of the Astronaut Office for exploration, overseeing the development and testing of spacecraft and systems for the Artemis programme.
Luca Parmitano is also set for his third spaceflight. In 2019, he commanded Expedition 61, becoming the third European – and the first Italian – to lead the International Space Station. A graduate of the Italian Air Force Academy, he qualified as a test pilot in 2007 and was promoted to colonel in 2019. He has accumulated more than 2,000 flight hours across 40 aircraft types.
Frank Rubio will make his second trip to space. In 2022, he launched aboard the Soyuz MS-22 spacecraft from the Baikonur Cosmodrome and set a record for the longest single spaceflight by an American astronaut – 371 consecutive days in orbit. Rubio was selected by NASA as an astronaut candidate in 2017. He earned his doctor of medicine degree from the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in 2010 and has served for more than 28 years in the US Army as a pilot, physician and astronaut.
Andre Douglas will be making his first spaceflight. He was selected by NASA as an astronaut candidate in 2021 and previously served as a backup crew member for the Artemis II mission. While working at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, he was involved in the design and testing of multi-purpose autonomous vehicles, space exploration systems and numerous underwater combat platforms.
The bigger picture: Permanent human presence on the moon
The overarching goal of the Artemis programme is to establish a sustained human presence on the moon. Earlier this year, NASA announced plans to spend $20bn (£16bn) on building a base on the lunar surface.
