NASA names four astronauts as crew members of Artemis III mission ahead of moon landing

NASA introduced the four astronauts of the next Artemis moon programme mission on Tuesday, kicking off a year or more of mission-specific training for the Artemis III crew. They are expected to launch into Earth orbit next year to test rendezvous and docking procedures with moon landers being built by SpaceX and Blue Origin – a critical milestone before the US can send astronauts back to the moon for landing in 2028.

NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman announced the crew members at the Johnson Space Centre in Houston. They include Commander Randy “Komrade” Bresnik, pilot Luca Parmitano, mission specialist Frank Rubio, and mission specialist Andre Douglas.

Who are the four astronauts on Artemis III mission?

Andre Douglas is a first-time space flier; Frank Rubio is a record-setting astronaut; while Randy Bresnik is a veteran flier and test pilot. Luca Parmitano is an Italian astronaut who is with the European Space Agency. Bob Hines was named the backup crew member.

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Bresnik, 58, a former Marine fighter pilot and “TOPGUN” graduate who logged 149 days in space during a space shuttle flight in 2009 and a long-duration stay aboard the International Space Station in 2017.

“We are certainly humbled, being that unifying link between the phenomenal Artemis II mission we just had two months ago and the Artemis IV mission that will follow ours, where we will again ... land humans on another celestial body,” Bresnik told the crowd at the Johnson Space Centre.

Artemis III to serve as precursor mission to moon landing

Artemis III will serve as a precursor mission to a moon landing and will test out how the NASA-built Orion spacecraft will dock with a lunar lander. The primary goal of the flight is to “reduce risk” heading into an actual lunar touchdown, which NASA hopes will take place as soon as 2028.

Launching atop a Space Launch System rocket in an Orion capsule, the crew will practice chasing down one moon lander at a time to make sure rendezvous and docking procedures work as planned before a future moon landing when those procedures will have to be carried out in lunar orbit.

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Crew will carry out a mission similar to NASA’s Apollo 9 flight in 1969

The Artemis III crew will carry out a mission similar to NASA’s Apollo 9 flight in March 1969, when three astronauts tested the spindly lunar excursion module in Earth orbit. That flight came after a successful lunar orbit mission, Apollo 8, at the end of 1968.

Then the Apollo 10 flight tested the lunar module in orbit around the moon before Apollo 11 finally made the first moon landing in the Sea of Tranquility in July 1969.

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Jeremy Parsons, a senior manager in NASA’s “Moon to Mars” programme office, said, “every aspect” of the Artemis III mission “will give us insight into how to refine our plans for Artemis IV and beyond, and buy down risk.”

Toward the end of Tuesday’s ceremony, Wiseman passed a symbolic baton to Bresnik, a handoff from one crew to the next in NASA’s drive to return astronauts to the surface of the moon.

“Randy, in your comments, I really loved when you said that you all are the link from (Artemis) II to the surface, and that really resonated with me,” Wiseman said. “And you guys know, we’ve been carrying these batons around for way too long. So with that, the Artemis II crew, Komrade, hands you the baton. You’ve got the controls.”