NASA has announced the four prime crew members and a backup for Artemis III, setting a 2027 test flight in Earth orbit that will validate Orion’s rendezvous and docking with commercial lander test versions from Blue Origin and SpaceX—an essential step toward A
For NASA, the timeline is tightening—and the next crew is already in motion.
On Tuesday. the agency unveiled new Artemis III details and named the four prime crew members and a backup for the test flight. The mission is set for 2027. when NASA plans to run a demanding sequence of checks in Earth orbit—work intended to make Artemis IV possible. Artemis IV, the first planned crewed mission to the lunar South Pole, is targeted for 2028.
Artemis III will use NASA’s SLS (Space Launch System) rocket to launch the Orion spacecraft and its crew from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida into low Earth orbit. After Orion’s systems checkouts. the spacecraft will. for the first time. demonstrate rendezvous and docking capabilities using test versions from one. or both. of the American commercial human landing systems being developed by Blue Origin and SpaceX.
The choreography matters because it is not a single maneuver—it is a multi-launch campaign designed to test integrated hardware between Orion and the landers. NASA says the mission will stress system interfaces, software, propulsion, and communications.
The crew assignments were announced alongside the broader push to increase mission cadence and improve the supply chain for the Artemis program.
Bob Hines was named as the backup crew member. NASA said the crew will begin training immediately on Orion spacecraft systems and will assist in the development and operations of the test versions of the Blue Origin and SpaceX landers.
NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman framed the announcement as a handoff built on momentum from the previous mission.
“Today we take another bold step in humanity’s return to the Moon. building on the extraordinary foundation laid by the Artemis II astronauts. ” Isaacman said. “Their achievements reignited global excitement for exploration. and now they pass the torch to the Artemis III team. Randy. Luca. Frank. and Andre. Artemis III will demonstrate the power of American innovation and international partnership as we test complex rendezvous and docking operations and advance the technologies that will
one day carry us deeper into the solar system. This mission will require the most awe-inspiring coordination of heavy-lift rocket launches in history. drawing on the talent and capability of teams across government and the spaceflight community. The Artemis III astronauts. alongside ESA and our international partners. and the tens of thousands of the best and brightest across the agency and industry. are ushering in a new Golden Age of exploration carrying forward the hopes
and dreams of the next generation just as the Apollo astronauts did for so many of us.”.
Josef Aschbacher, ESA’s director general, said Artemis III also marks a new kind of assignment relationship between the agencies.
“This also is the first time an ESA astronaut has been assigned an Artemis mission,” Aschbacher said. “Artemis III will push the boundaries of spacecraft operations in orbit. Luca’s assignment as pilot reflects the depth of European expertise in human spaceflight and draws on his extensive operational experience in high-pressure situations. At the same time. ESA’s European Service Module will once again provide the critical capabilities that power Orion. demonstrating Europe’s enduring role at the very heart of the Artemis program. The news out of Houston today is a powerful recognition of ESA’s role in enabling humanity’s return to the Moon – and a key advancement in our partnership with NASA. Europeans can take pride in being part of this exciting journey.”.
Behind the announcement is an engineering timeline already moving.
NASA says engineers will connect the Orion crew module and service module this summer and integrate the spacecraft’s docking system. which will fly for the first time. Heat shield testing is also underway, with individual blocks undergoing ultra-sonic inspections and installation onto the heat shield structure.
On the rocket side, rocket processing is well underway. Technicians for SLS are integrating the engine section to the rest of the core stage ahead of installing the four RS-25 engines this summer. With all solid rocket booster segments now at NASA Kennedy and mobile launcher refurbishments on track. rocket stacking is scheduled to begin this summer. NASA continues design and fabrication of a spacer that will replace the upper stage on Artemis III.
The commercial lander effort is progressing in parallel. Blue Origin is developing a crewed lunar version of its Blue Moon lander. and SpaceX is developing a crewed lunar lander version of its Starship. Both companies are building test articles for Artemis III. and NASA said it is supporting both lander providers hands-on throughout design. development. testing. and evaluation. including sharing agency expertise and capabilities gained from previous missions.
Artemis III also builds on Artemis II, a successful flight completed in April. NASA says Artemis III will help prepare to send the first astronauts, Americans, to Mars.
The mission plan is built around multiple test vehicles and a tight window in orbit. Blue Origin’s lander pathfinder, capable of staying in orbit for multiple weeks, will launch first and await the crew. NASA will send the astronauts aboard Orion by SLS to orbit Earth. then rendezvous with the company’s lander test article and spend about two days docked together for tests and technology demonstrations. including entering the lander.
After docked operations with Blue Origin, Orion will detach and await Starship. SpaceX’s Starship pathfinder will launch and meet up with Orion to spend about a day connected for checkouts and testing. After that. Orion and its crew will undock and return home. splashing safely down in the Pacific Ocean where a team from the U.S. Navy and NASA will recover the astronauts.
In total, the crew is expected to remain in space for about two weeks. NASA said the exact mission length will be determined in real time based on launch, rendezvous, and docked operations.
Every crew member comes with a track record NASA highlighted as the team prepares for the specific pressures of Artemis III.
Randy Bresnik will be on his third mission to space. He launched aboard space shuttle Atlantis on the STS-129 mission to the International Space Station in 2009. He later flew on the Soyuz MS-05 spacecraft from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan to the space station. serving as a flight engineer for the station’s Expedition 52 and commander of Expedition 53. A California native. Bresnik graduated from The Citadel with a degree in mathematics and was selected by NASA in the 2004 astronaut candidate class. A retired U.S. Marine colonel. he has logged more than 7. 000 hours in 95 types of aircraft and is a fellow in the Society of Experimental Test Pilots. Since 2018. he has served as assistant to the chief of the Astronaut Office for exploration. overseeing the development and testing of the spacecraft and systems that will operate during Artemis missions.
Luca Parmitano will also be on his third spaceflight. Selected by ESA as an astronaut in 2009. he first served as a flight engineer on the Italian Space Agency’s (ASI) first long-duration mission to the space station. launching on a Soyuz from Baikonur in 2013. He returned to the orbital laboratory in 2019 aboard Soyuz MS-13 for his second mission. serving as commander of Expedition 61—becoming the third European. and the first Italian. to command the station. Parmitano earned a bachelor’s degree in political sciences from the University of Naples Federico II and a master’s degree in experimental flight test engineering from the Institut Supérieur de l’Aéronautique et de l’Espace in Toulouse. France. A graduate of the Italian Air Force Academy, he became a test pilot in 2007 and was promoted to colonel in 2019. He has logged more than 2,000 flight hours across 40 types of aircraft.
Frank Rubio is making his second trip to space. He launched aboard the Soyuz MS-22 spacecraft from Baikonur to the space station on Sept. 21, 2022, and returned on Sept. 27, 2023, breaking the record for the longest single-duration spaceflight by an American astronaut with 371 days in orbit. Rubio was selected by NASA in the 2017 astronaut candidate class. A Florida native, he graduated from the U.S. Military Academy in 1998. earned a doctor of medicine from the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in 2010. and has served for more than 28 years in the U.S. Army as an aviator, a physician, and an astronaut.
Andre Douglas is scheduled for his first spaceflight. Selected by NASA in the 2021 astronaut candidate class. Douglas previously served as a backup and closeout crew member for the agency’s Artemis II mission. A Virginia native, he earned a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the U.S. Coast Guard Academy and four postgraduate degrees from various institutions, including a doctorate in systems engineering from George Washington University. During his time in the Coast Guard, he conducted search and rescue, maritime salvage, and drug interdiction operations. Additionally. his time at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory involved designing and testing multidomain autonomous vehicles. space exploration systems. and numerous undersea warfare platforms.
Hines, the backup, will train alongside Bresnik, Parmitano, Rubio, and Douglas. NASA said that if a primary crew member is unable to participate in the mission. Hines would join the Artemis III crew. Hines previously served as pilot of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-4 mission to the International Space Station. Selected by NASA in the 2017 astronaut candidate class. he served as a research pilot at the agency’s Johnson Space Center prior to his selection. He is a colonel in the U.S. Air Force with more than 27 years of service as an instructor pilot, fighter pilot, and test pilot.
NASA said the Artemis III mission sits inside a broader plan: sending Artemis astronauts on increasingly difficult missions to explore more of the Moon for scientific discovery. economic benefits. and to establish an enduring human presence on the lunar surface—while building the foundation for first crewed missions to Mars.
Artemis III NASA SLS Orion Blue Origin SpaceX Blue Moon Starship rendezvous docking ESA astronaut Artemis IV lunar South Pole