NASA Introduces the Artemis 3 Crew, Shares Major New Mission Details

It’s been just two months since the Artemis 2 crew returned to Earth, and NASA is already gearing up for Artemis 3. Today, the agency revealed the four astronauts who will test out its commercial Moon landers in space. NASA’s Andre Douglas, Frank Rubio, Randy Bresnik, and the European Space Agency’s Luca Parmitano took the stage at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, to introduce themselves and share their excitement for the upcoming mission. Douglas and Rubio will serve as mission specialists, Parmitano will serve as pilot, and Bresnik will command the mission. The agency also introduced backup crew member and NASA astronaut Bob Hines, who can step into any role if one of the core four crew members is unable to fly. During Artemis 3, currently slated to launch in 2027, the agency’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket will launch the four astronauts aboard the Orion spacecraft from Kennedy Space Center in Florida. They will venture to low Earth orbit, where Orion will attempt to rendezvous and dock with at least one of the two commercial landers built by SpaceX and Blue Origin. Speaking on behalf of the crew, Commander Bresnik said they are humbled to be “that unifying link