NASA names four astronauts for Artemis III next year

NASA will introduce the four astronauts assigned to Artemis III at Johnson Space Center in Houston on Tuesday, kicking off a year or more of training tied to crucial docking tests. The mission is expected to launch into Earth orbit next year, as NASA pushes to

On Tuesday, NASA will walk four astronauts into the public spotlight at the Johnson Space Center in Houston—starting a run of training that will last at least a year, and that NASA hopes will finally iron out the last hard edges before the U.S. tries to land astronauts on the moon again.

The announcement is scheduled for 11:30 a.m. ET, and it marks the beginning of mission-specific preparation for the Artemis III crew. Their work is expected to culminate with a launch into Earth orbit next year. where they will test rendezvous and docking procedures with moon landers being built by SpaceX and Blue Origin. For NASA, those docking steps are not a detail—they are a prerequisite milestone before any U.S. astronauts can land on the lunar surface.

Artemis III is set up to mirror the kind of careful rehearsal NASA ran during the Apollo era. The Artemis III crew will need to master the same operations that will be carried out in lunar orbit on a subsequent flight before America’s first moon landing in nearly 55 years. Launching in an Orion capsule atop NASA’s Space Launch System rocket. Artemis III is described as a mission similar to NASA’s Apollo 9 flight in March 1969. when three astronauts tested the spindly lunar excursion module in Earth orbit. Apollo 9 came after Apollo 8’s successful lunar orbit mission at the end of 1968.

Then came Apollo 10, which 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.

NASA has also recently completed a key earlier step in the Artemis sequence. Artemis II’s version of Apollo 8—sending Artemis II commander Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen on a flight around the moon—was successfully completed in April.

Who the Artemis III crew needs to be. and what NASA needs them to practice. is inseparable from what is—and isn’t—ready to reach lunar orbit. As of now. Artemis III is the only test flight NASA says it is planning before making a landing attempt in 2028 with whichever lunar lander is available. By that time, one or both companies will have had to complete a successful unpiloted moon landing.

But both lander pathways are carrying their own schedule pressure.

Blue Origin is still recovering from a catastrophic launch pad explosion on May 28. which destroyed a New Glenn rocket like the one the company says will be needed to carry the Blue Moon Mark II lander into Earth orbit next year. The company’s only launch pad, located at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, suffered major damage. Blue Origin says it expects to return to flight before the end of the year. but the mishap threw a wrench into the New Glenn launch schedule. That has already delayed flights of the Blue Moon Mark I—an uncrewed lunar cargo ship that was expected to help pave the way for the larger. more capable piloted version.

Whether the New Glenn rocket and pad 36 at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station will be back in operation in time to launch a flight-ready Mark II lander for Artemis III remains to be seen. NASA is not waiting in place: if only one lander is available, the mission is expected to proceed. If neither lander is ready, NASA likely would come up with an alternate mission scenario to keep the program moving.

SpaceX has faced its own ramp-up challenges perfecting the huge Super Heavy-Starship rocket needed to launch that company’s lander. It is not yet known when SpaceX will have its lander ready for an orbital flight test, but NASA is pressing ahead with plans for Artemis III regardless.

Those shifting timelines land on a larger political and strategic target. NASA’s Artemis program is intended to get astronauts back to the moon by the end of 2028. The agency also wants to win a self-declared space race with China. which is working to send its own “taikonauts” to the moon by the end of the decade.

NASA’s motivations run deeper than a single flag on a single landing site. Even though NASA sent 12 astronauts to the moon’s surface between 1969 and the end of 1972—winning the Cold War space race with the former Soviet Union—the agency wants to establish a near permanent presence on the moon with Artemis. The aim is also to cement U.S. leadership in space travel, research, and technology.

Looking beyond Artemis III. NASA is planning a chain of robotic landers and lunar satellites along with the Artemis IV and V missions. followed by two astronaut landings per year thereafter. That schedule is meant to set the stage for construction of a moon base near the lunar south pole beginning in the 2029-2030 timeframe.

The south polar region is an attractive target because permanently shadowed, ultra-cold craters are expected to harbor comet-borne ice deposits. Those deposits could provide an in situ source of water, air, and rocket fuel. With habitats in place—plus solar and nuclear power stations—rotating astronaut crews could live and work on the moon for long durations. much like space station crews have done in Earth orbit for the past quarter century.

The human problem for NASA is that none of that long-term picture removes the immediate risk: multiple threats to the Artemis schedule could push Artemis III into 2028 and push landing missions even further. Whether any additional test flights might be needed between the Artemis III mission and a moon landing remains to be seen.

NASA Artemis III Johnson Space Center Orion Space Launch System Artemis II Reid Wiseman Victor Glover Christina Koch Jeremy Hansen SpaceX Starship Blue Origin New Glenn Blue Moon Mark II lunar landers moon landing 2028 Artemis program lunar south pole docking and rendezvous