Meet the Artemis III Astronauts and their Mission
In a special event on June 9th, NASA introduced the astronauts who will fly Artemis III next year, and provided welcome clarity about the upcoming test flight’s objectives. Commander Randy Bresnik, Pilot Luca Parmitano, and Mission Specialists Frank Rubio and Andre Douglas will fly the Orion spacecraft to meet with two prototype Moon landers built by Blue Origin and SpaceX, opening the way for a future crew of astronauts to return to the lunar surface. Their names and faces bring a fresh sense of humanity to Artemis III, bringing the newly-reworked mission to life as its campaign begins to pick up speed.
The Crew
The crew selected for Artemis III reflect the mission’s deep focus as a test flight of several spacecraft working in parallel. Bresnik, Parmitano, Rubio, and backup crew member Bob Hines are all pilots; of these, all but Rubio have test experience. Douglas brings a rich background in mechanical, marine, electrical, computer, and systems engineering, in addition to his previous training with SLS and Orion as NASA’s backup crew member for Artemis II.
Douglas, like Jeremy Hansen before him, will be making his first flight aboard Artemis III. Bresnik and Parmitano have flown two missions to the ISS each, while Rubio’s sole ISS flight became the longest for an American at 371 days. Hines previously flew aboard SpaceX Crew-4, while Bresnik will become the first Shuttle veteran to fly in the Artemis program.
Significantly, Parmitano is set to become Europe’s first Artemis astronaut. In an emotional analogy, Parmitano compared ESA and NASA to the launch tower and rocket, elements that must work together to “build bridges” and uplift one another. His heartfelt words are poignant after NASA’s decision to cancel Gateway, which was to be one of ESA’s major contributions to the program. ESA Director General Josef Aschbacher, who has criticized that decision, nevertheless expressed his pride on Parmitano’s behalf, calling Orion’s European Service Module an example of “shared ambition made tangible through hardware.” Although NASA under Isaacman has frequently placed America first, these remarks come as a stark reminder that the program’s international bedrock cannot easily be shaken.
At the end of the crew announcement, Artemis II astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch appeared on stage to personally pass a physical baton to the Artemis III crew, symbolizing the unending collaboration that drives the program forward. Commander Bresnik described Artemis III as the link “from [Artemis] II to the surface,” stressing his perspective that “the most important Artemis mission will always be the next mission.” Wielding the baton like a “big, flaming Olympic torch,” Bresnik gratefully accepted the task on behalf of the new team.
The Mission
Artemis I and II tested the Space Launch System and Orion spacecraft, first uncrewed and then carrying the first humans to visit the Moon since 1972. Until this past February, Artemis III was to be the program’s first landing, but NASA’s commercial partners SpaceX and Blue Origin have much work to complete before their landers are up to the task. Instead, the mission will focus on maturing the Starship and Blue Moon landers, providing a crucial opportunity for Orion and its crew to meet and test the new spacecraft.
But the two prototype landers will fly at different levels of fidelity, or similarity to their final design. First to launch will be a version of Blue Origin’s Blue Moon Mark 2 lander. Next, Orion will launch, rendezvous and dock with the lander, and the four astronauts will “cross the hatch” into their new spacecraft. For the next two days, the crew will live and work inside Blue Moon, testing its life support and controls just as Artemis II’s crew tested Orion. Blue Origin’s John Couluris shared that the crew module which will fly on this mission is currently being built.
Once this mission phase is complete, SpaceX will launch their Starship prototype, and Orion will again rendezvous and dock with the new vehicle. However, unlike Blue Moon, Starship will not offer a pressurized cabin, life support, or controls for the astronauts. SpaceX’s Jessica Jensen described the spacecraft as a V3 Starship “off the line” with a docking port installed. She noted that a “flight fidelity” cabin for Starship is also being built, but will not fly on Artemis III. Orion will dock to the prototype for one day before departing and returning to Earth.
The difference in capability between the prototype Blue Moon and Starship vehicles is striking, especially in the context of their respective companies’ development programs. Blue Moon is meant to fly on Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket, which recently suffered an explosion that destroyed its only launch pad. NASA and Blue Origin have expressed confidence that Blue can rebuild and return to flight this year, but this is a tall order for a company still finding its footing with just three orbital flights under its belt. The Mark 1 version of Blue Moon is meant to fly this year, but with its launch vehicle unavailable, NASA and Blue Origin are considering other rockets to keep the program moving forward.
Conversely, Starship recently completed its twelfth flight test, yet fell short of a major leap forward for the program. The mission demonstrated improved capabilities for Starship, but issues with its raptor engines mean more flights will be required before Starship can reliably reach orbit. After three years spent chasing the same flight objectives, a lightly-modified Starship in orbit next year seems like a reasonable, if low, bar for SpaceX to clear. Jensen also set a target of late this year for SpaceX’s ship-to-ship refueling test, a key milestone before Starship can fly to the Moon, but this technology is not needed for Artemis III.
Artemis III will invest an entire Space Launch System rocket, an Orion spacecraft, four talented astronauts, and a year of specialized training to build NASA’s confidence in its commercial Moon landers. Yet only one of the two spacecraft will welcome Bresnik, Parmitano, Rubio, and Andre aboard. If the mission flies as intended next year, Blue Moon will have a major leg up over Starship towards landing astronauts on the Moon in 2028. Still, that outcome is far from guaranteed. In the meantime, both companies, NASA, and the mission’s new crew have a year of hard work ahead of them to meet the challenge of Artemis III.
