Why put limits on what is possible? I like to dream big.
Six years after watching Australia's Black Summer fires consume a continent from 400 kilometres above Earth, ESA astronaut Luca Parmitano has been named pilot of NASA's Artemis III mission — the next step in humanity's return to the Moon. The view from orbit gave him not only awe but obligation, a conviction that what we do to this planet is visible, measurable, and reversible only if we choose it to be. Now, as he prepares for a late-2027 mission to rehearse lunar docking ahead of a potential 2028 Moon landing, Parmitano carries both the weight of that burning continent and the quiet hope that space exploration can still give a fractured world something worth looking up toward.
- From 400 kilometres up, Parmitano watched smoke swallow the Australian continent whole — a sight that transformed professional awe into personal reckoning.
- The call came in June 2026, unexpected and overwhelming: he would become the first ESA astronaut assigned to the Artemis program, a mission he had never dared to place on his own horizon.
- Artemis III won't touch the lunar surface — it will orbit Earth in late 2027 while the crew drills the critical docking manoeuvres that must work perfectly before anyone lands on the Moon in 2028.
- Parmitano's crew of four brings thousands of hours of test-pilot experience, a year-long spaceflight, and one rookie's hunger — a team already learning how to move as one.
- Two months after Artemis II broke Apollo 13's distance record and drew 30 million viewers worldwide, the program is building momentum that Parmitano hopes can briefly reunite a world pulling in too many directions at once.
On January 12, 2020, Luca Parmitano was commanding the International Space Station when he looked down and saw Australia on fire. The Black Summer bushfires had spread across the east coast in a blanket of ash and smoke visible from space, and Parmitano — who had recently walked that country and met its people — watched its beauty disappear in real time. He took photographs. He wanted the world to understand, in the most literal sense, what was happening.
That experience never left him. Where other astronauts had looked down in wonder, Parmitano felt something sharpen into responsibility. He spoke afterwards about individual choices, about electing leaders who reflect the values that matter, about the possibility that space exploration itself might offer a counterweight to the crises consuming the planet below.
In June 2026, six years after those fires, a phone call redirected his life again. NASA selected him as the first ESA astronaut assigned to the Artemis program — the mission to return humans to the Moon. He had not seen it coming. A military test pilot with two prior space missions behind him, he thought he understood the shape of his career. The Moon was different.
Artemis III, scheduled for late 2027, will not land on the lunar surface. Instead, the crew will orbit Earth and rehearse docking the Orion capsule with two lunar landers — a rehearsal for the actual landing planned for 2028. Parmitano will serve as pilot, drawing on a career that has taken him into caves, underwater habitats, and orbit, always learning to stay sharp when the risk is real and the margin is thin. He dedicated the moment of his selection to his daughters, who have already lived through two missions without him and are ready, he says, for this sprint.
His crewmates — Commander Randy Bresnik, Frank Rubio, and rookie Andre Douglas — bring complementary strengths and thousands of hours of combined experience. Parmitano speaks of them with genuine respect. The announcement arrives two months after Artemis II completed a record-breaking loop around the Moon, drawing more than 30 million viewers globally and, briefly, uniting them. Parmitano hopes Artemis III will do the same. The Moon landing itself remains two years away. For now, he has a mission in front of him — and he considers that privilege enough.
Luca Parmitano was orbiting 400 kilometres above Earth on January 12, 2020, when he watched Australia burn. As commander of the International Space Station, he had a view few humans will ever possess—and what he saw there has stayed with him ever since.
The Black Summer bushfires were tearing across the east coast, and from his vantage point, Parmitano could see the scale of it all at once: a vast blanket of ash and smoke stretching the length of the continent. He had spent a week in Adelaide working with the Australian Space Agency not long before, had walked through the country, met its people, felt the weight of its beauty. Now he was watching that beauty disappear. "I was thinking of how much nature was going away," he said later. He took photographs. He documented what he saw. He wanted people to understand, in the most literal sense, what was happening to the world.
Twenty-five years of astronauts have looked down from the station in awe. Parmitano's awe turned to something else—a sense of responsibility. He felt compelled to share those images as a kind of reckoning, a blunt picture of what human activity was doing to the planet. "This is what is happening, and we are a big part of what's causing it to happen," he said. He spoke about small actions, about choosing leaders who would represent values that mattered, about the fact that individual choices, multiplied across millions of people, could shift the trajectory of things. But he also spoke about something larger: the possibility that space exploration itself could unite a fractured world, could offer a counterweight to the conflicts and climate crises that seemed to be consuming the news cycle.
In June 2026, six years after witnessing those fires, Parmitano received a call that changed his trajectory again. NASA selected him as the first European Space Agency astronaut assigned to the Artemis program—the mission to return humans to the Moon. He was overwhelmed. It had never been on his horizon. A trained military pilot with nearly two decades of flying experience and two previous space missions behind him, he thought he knew what to expect from his career. This was different. This was the Moon.
Artemis III, launching in late 2027, will not land on the lunar surface itself. Instead, the mission will orbit Earth while the crew practices docking the Orion capsule with two lunar landers—a crucial rehearsal for the actual landing that will follow in 2028. Parmitano will serve as pilot, a role that draws on everything he has learned: his background as a test pilot for both fixed-wing and rotary aircraft, his time in confined spaces for extended periods, his two prior missions in orbit. When he accepted the role, he dedicated the moment to his daughters, who have been through two space missions with him, who have watched him disappear for weeks and months at a time. They understand now what it means to be an astronaut. They are ready for this sprint, as he calls it—shorter than his previous missions but no less demanding.
Parmitano has trained in ways most pilots never will. He has worked as a "cavenaut" and "aquanaut" for the ESA, spending ten days in caves and two weeks underwater, learning to be comfortable with genuine discomfort and real risk. Simulations are valuable—you can crash into the Moon and walk away unharmed—but analogs teach you something different. When the risk is real, when you are operating at the edge of your capabilities with your crew, you sharpen the tools you will actually need.
His crew for Artemis III includes three American astronauts: Commander Randy Bresnik, who has flown twice before and logged thousands of hours as a test pilot; Frank Rubio, who spent over a year in orbit, longer than any individual mission Parmitano has flown; and Andre Douglas, a rookie who has already spent hundreds of hours preparing for space. Parmitano speaks of them with genuine respect—their experience, their capabilities, their different strengths. Together, they form a team that already understands how to work together, what they share, where they differ.
The announcement comes two months after Artemis II completed its record-breaking journey around the Moon, surpassing the distance record set by Apollo 13 decades earlier. One in six Australians watched that launch in April. More than 30 million people worldwide tuned in. It was, in a fractured moment, something that united people—a reminder that humans could still reach for something beyond themselves. Parmitano hopes Artemis III will do the same. He knows the mission ahead is complex and difficult. He also knows he is young enough to dream, and he likes to dream big. The Moon landing itself is two years away. Whether he will be part of that historic flight remains to be seen. For now, he has a mission in front of him, and that is privilege enough.
Notable Quotes
I was thinking of how much beauty, how much nature was going away, disappearing.— Luca Parmitano, recalling what he saw from orbit during the 2020 bushfires
This is what is happening, and we are a big part of what's causing it to happen.— Luca Parmitano, on his responsibility to document and share images of the fires
The Hearth Conversation Another angle on the story
When you saw those fires from orbit, did you immediately know you had to speak about it publicly?
I felt a responsibility, yes. You're 400 kilometres up, and you see something that vast, that devastating, and you've just been on the ground there. You've met people. You've felt the place. It changes what you're looking at.
Do you think people actually hear the message when an astronaut says it, or does it just become another voice?
I don't know. But I know that silence is not an option. If you have a platform, if you've seen something that matters, you use it. Even if only some people listen, that's something.
You've trained in caves and underwater. Does that feel more real to you than a simulator?
Completely different. In a simulator, failure is safe. Underwater, in a cave—the risk is real. Your body knows the difference. Your mind knows it. That's what prepares you for space.
Your daughters have been through two missions with you. What do you think they understand now that they didn't before?
They understand sacrifice, I think. They understand that some things are worth the time away, worth the risk. They're excited for this one. They know what it takes.
You're the pilot of Artemis III, but the Moon landing comes after. Are you thinking about that?
I'm focused on the mission in front of me. But why put limits on what's possible? I'm young enough to dream. And I like to dream big.