NASA announces astronauts for Artemis III spaceflight, scheduled for 2027
NASA has announced the crew for the next Artemis mission, Artemis III, following its recent lunar flyby milestones. The mission is scheduled for 2027 and will launch in the Orion spacecraft aboard the Space Launch System rocket on a complex flight profile.
The crew includes three Americans and one European astronaut from European Space Agency: NASA commander Randy Bresnik, ESA pilot Luca Parmitano, and mission specialists Frank Rubio and Andre Douglas. Bob Hines was named as the backup crew member and will train alongside them.
The mission is expected to last about two weeks and is designed as a deliberately higher-risk test flight to support safer future lunar surface missions, according to NASA officials. The crew will spend the next year training, incorporating lessons from earlier missions and helping refine lander systems and procedures for later Artemis flights.
Artemis III will operate in low Earth orbit in a circular trajectory, testing rendezvous and docking between Orion and commercial lunar landers from Blue Origin and SpaceX. The astronauts will spend several days in docked operations, running the lander systems and testing life support capabilities that can only be evaluated in space.
Planned upgrades include a new docking system, improved heat shield, and enhanced communications to improve data exchange between Orion and ground control. NASA official Isaacman said the schedule shift followed safety concerns raised by an advisory panel that labeled the earlier timeline “high risk.”
Despite a recent New Glenn test failure by Blue Origin, NASA said it remains confident the rocket and lander systems will be ready for 2027.
Artemis III follows Artemis II, which completed a 10-day lunar flyby in April, traveling nearly 700,000 miles around the far side of the Moon, the first such trip in over 50 years.
