Artemis III crew includes record-breaking astronaut Rubio

NASA has named the international crew of four astronauts who will fly on its next Artemis mission as early as next year, a test flight ahead of a planned human lunar landing mission. The agency called it “one of the most highly complex missions NASA has undertaken.”

The Artemis III mission, while vital to future Moon exploration, will initially remain in low-Earth orbit. It will demonstrate Orion spacecraft rendezvous and docking with two commercially developed lunar landers, NPR reports.

NASA astronaut Randy Bresnik will command the mission. A US Marine Corps member, he has flown twice and logged 149 days in orbit. ESA astronaut Luca Parmitano of Italy will serve as pilot, a two-time spaceflyer who completed a spacewalk cut short when his helmet nearly filled with water.

NASA astronauts Frank Rubio and Andre Douglas will serve as mission specialists. Rubio, US Army veteran physician, spent 371 days in space after his Soyuz was damaged, setting a U.S. endurance record. Douglas, selected in 2021, is Coast Guard reserve officer and engineer on his first spaceflight.

“This mission is going to be fantastic,” Douglas said at NASA’s Johnson Space Center. “What an excellent crew. Got Artemis! Go NASA!”

The mission will test docking with landers from SpaceX and Blue Origin. “This gives our teams key information on systems the lunar lander crew will depend on in an environment close to home versus four plus days away around the moon,” said NASA’s Jeremy Parsons.

Flight begins with Blue Origin’s Blue Moon lander launched into orbit ahead of crew aboard NASA’s SLS rocket and Orion capsule. After docking and testing, the crew will rendezvous with SpaceX’s Starship in low-Earth orbit.

NASA administrator Jared Isaacman has indicated a possible launch by end of next year, though a recent Blue Origin New Glenn explosion at Cape Canaveral has raised uncertainty about the timeline.

“While we recognize there are questions about how Blue Origin's recent anomaly impacts our plans, setbacks are a learning opportunity,” Parsons said. “We are confident New Glenn will be ready for Artemis III.”

Artemis II astronauts recently completed a nine-day lunar mission, and commander Reid Wiseman said, “The most important Artemis mission will always be the next Artemis mission.”

At the crew handover, he added, “We’ve been carrying these batons for way too long. So the Artemis II crew hands you the baton. You got the controls.”

By Vafa Guliyeva