NASA names Artemis III crew for 2027 Earth orbit test flight

NASA has announced the four-person crew for Artemis III, a test flight mission scheduled for 2027 that will conduct critical rendezvous and docking operations in Earth orbit ahead of Artemis IV, the first planned crewed mission to the lunar South Pole in 2028.

NASA astronaut Randy Bresnik will serve as commander, joined by ESA astronaut Luca Parmitano as pilot and NASA astronauts Andre Douglas and Frank Rubio as mission specialists, the agency announced Tuesday. NASA astronaut Bob Hines was named as backup crew member. The announcement marks the first time a European Space Agency astronaut has been assigned to an Artemis mission.

Artemis III will focus on testing rendezvous and docking operations in low Earth orbit with test versions of commercial lunar landers being developed by Blue Origin and SpaceX. The crew is expected to spend roughly two days docked with a Blue Origin lander test article before undocking and later linking up with a SpaceX Starship pathfinder for approximately one day of checkouts before returning to Earth. Total mission duration is expected to be about two weeks, NASA said.

The mission requires a complex, multi-launch campaign involving some of the world’s most powerful rockets. Blue Origin’s lander pathfinder will launch first and await the crew in orbit, followed by NASA’s Orion spacecraft carrying astronauts aboard the agency’s Space Launch System rocket from Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

“Artemis III will demonstrate the power of American innovation and international partnership,” NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said, describing the mission as requiring “the most awe-inspiring coordination of heavy-lift rocket launches in history.”

ESA Director General Josef Aschbacher said Parmitano’s assignment as pilot reflects the depth of European expertise in human spaceflight. ESA’s European Service Module will again power the Orion spacecraft, Aschbacher noted.

Hardware preparation is underway on multiple fronts, NASA said. Engineers plan to connect Orion’s crew and service modules this summer and install RS-25 engines on the SLS core stage. Rocket stacking at Kennedy is also scheduled to begin this summer. Both Blue Origin and SpaceX are building test articles specifically for the Artemis III flight profile.

Bresnik, a retired Marine colonel, and Parmitano have each flown two previous space missions. Rubio set the record for the longest single-duration spaceflight by an American astronaut at 371 days during a stay aboard the International Space Station. The mission will be Douglas’ first spaceflight.