NASA Reveals Astronauts For Artemis III — And One Is Italian

The Artemis III crew poses for an official portrait (from left: Andre Douglas, Luca Parmitano, Randy Bresnik, Frank Rubio).

NASA/Bill Stafford

Just a couple of months after the Artemis II mission’s successful trip around the moon, NASA has announced the prime crew for Artemis III, marking a major step toward one of the agency’s most ambitious human spaceflight missions — even as the program’s next phase takes a new shape.

What Artemis III Will Do

The recently re-assigned mission, scheduled for mid-2027, will send astronauts into low Earth orbit aboard the Orion spacecraft, launched by NASA’s Space Launch System rocket from Kennedy Space Center in Florida. However, rather than landing two astronauts at the moon’s South Pole — as originally planned — Artemis III is now planned as a critical test flight.

The four newly announced astronauts will focus on rendezvous and docking operations with two commercial lunar lander systems — Blue Origin’s Blue Moon and SpaceX’s Starship Human Landing System (HLS).

Artemis II, Artemis IV And Beyond

The mission follows the completed Artemis II flight, which sent three American astronauts and one Canadian around the moon in a partly European Space Agency-built Orion spacecraft. That mission delivered fabulous images of Earthset, and reinvigorated NASA’s human spaceflight program. With Artemis II complete, attention now turns to what comes next: testing the systems that could help put two astronauts on the moon in 2028 and, in the years after, build a permanent lunar base.

Artemis III Includes NASA And ESA Astronauts

NASA named Randy Bresnik as commander, ESA astronaut Luca Parmitano as pilot, and NASA astronauts Andre Douglas and Frank Rubio as mission specialists. NASA astronaut Bob Hines will serve as a backup crew member and train alongside the prime crew.

The assignment is especially significant for Europe. Parmitano becomes the first European Space Agency astronaut assigned to an Artemis mission. ESA’s European Service Module provides critical power and support functions for the Orion spacecraft.

“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,” said Josef Aschbacher, ESA’s director general. He added that “Europeans can take pride in being part of this exciting journey,” stressing “Europe’s enduring role at the very heart of the Artemis program.”

Wishing you clear skies and wide eyes.