Nasa names Artemis III crew in next step towards Moon landing

Nasa has named the four astronauts who will blast off as part of the Artemis III mission in 2027 - the next step for humans to return to the Moon The astronauts are Andre Douglas, mission specialist, Frank Rubio, mission specialist, Luca Parmitano, pilot, and Randy Bresnik, commander The crew will launch into Earth's orbit next year from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida aboard the Orion spacecraft atop of the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket During their flight, the astronauts will test rendezvous and docking capabilities between Orion and commercial spacecraft - maneouvres that will be required for subsequent missions to land on the Moon Artemis III marks "the beginning of the future", says Nasa Administrator Jared Isaacman The announcement comes after questions arose when a Blue Origin craft - which was set to transport future astronauts to the Moon later this decade - exploded during a test last month Edited by Donovan Slack and Caitlin Wilson Nasa officials insisted today that the plan is still to land humans back on the Moon by 2028 as part of the Artemis programme, for which next year's Artemis III launch is meant to test various components. But the plan is already facing