On a Tuesday in June, NASA named the four people who will fly Artemis III, a mission that asks humanity to practice before it returns to the Moon. The crew, drawn from NASA and the European Space Agency, will not set foot on the lunar surface; they will remain in low Earth orbit, testing whether separate spacecraft can meet, join and work as one. It is a patient step in a long human story that began half a century ago, measured less in triumphant landings than in quiet rehearsals meant to make the next one safe.
NASA Names Artemis III Crew: Low-Orbit Test Flight Sets Up Future Moon Landing
On a Tuesday in June, NASA named the four people who will fly Artemis III, a mission that asks humanity to practice before it returns to the Moon. The crew, drawn from NASA and the European Space Agency, will not set foot on the lunar surface; they will remain in low Earth orbit, testing whether separate spacecraft can meet, join and work as one. It is a patient step in a long human story that began half a century ago, measured less in triumphant landings than in quiet rehearsals meant to make the next one safe.
NASA has named the four astronauts who will fly Artemis III, the next step in its effort to return people to the Moon for the first time in more than fifty years. This flight will not land. Instead, the crew will spend about two weeks in low Earth orbit, testing the difficult work that a future landing will require.
The team blends American and European experience. Randy Bresnik, a Marine colonel and veteran commander, leads the mission. Luca Parmitano of the European Space Agency, a former station commander and Italian Air Force test pilot, serves as pilot. Andre Douglas, making his first flight, brings engineering depth from the Coast Guard and Johns Hopkins. Frank Rubio, who set the record for the longest single spaceflight by a U.S. astronaut, returns as a mission specialist and physician. Bob Hines stands ready as backup.
The flight follows Artemis II, the crewed lunar flyby in April, and builds on what that voyage revealed. Artemis III will test the harder choreography of rendezvous and docking with commercial landers, coordinating several vehicles that must work as one. NASA's administrator has called it a demonstration of both American innovation and international partnership.
Not everyone sees the road as smooth. Space policy analysts have warned that deep budget cuts could weaken the partnerships and science this effort depends on. The astronauts will be paid their standard federal salaries, with no special bonus for the risk. Their launch date remains open, tied to the readiness of the landers and the success of integrated tests.
On Tuesday, NASA named the four astronauts who will fly Artemis III, the next step in the agency's plan to put humans back on the Moon for the first time in more than 50 years. The crew will not land there. Under the current plan, they will stay in low Earth orbit and run tests meant to make sure a later landing mission can go ahead safely.
The crew is drawn from NASA and the European Space Agency. Randy Bresnik, a NASA astronaut, is commander. ESA's Luca Parmitano is pilot. Andre Douglas and Frank Rubio, both of NASA, are mission specialists. Bob Hines will train alongside them as backup, ready to step in if needed.
Bresnik has flown to space twice, including a 2009 space shuttle mission to the International Space Station and a later trip to the station. He has served as flight engineer and commander. A U.S. Marine colonel and test pilot, he was selected as an astronaut in 2004 and has logged more than 7,000 flight hours. Since 2018 he has held a leadership role in the Astronaut Office, helping oversee development and testing of Artemis systems.
Parmitano, also a two-time spaceflight veteran, was selected by ESA in 2009. He commanded Expedition 61 on the station, becoming the first Italian to lead it. He is an Italian Air Force colonel and trained test pilot with more than 2,000 flight hours, and holds degrees in political science and experimental flight test engineering.
Douglas will make his first spaceflight. Selected in the 2021 astronaut class, he previously served as a backup crew member for Artemis II. A Virginia native, he studied mechanical engineering at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy and holds several advanced degrees, including a doctorate in systems engineering. He served in the Coast Guard on search and rescue and drug interdiction missions, then worked at Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory on autonomous systems, space exploration technologies and undersea platforms.
Rubio will make his second flight after a record-setting mission on the station: 371 days in orbit, the longest single flight by a U.S. astronaut. Selected in 2017, he is a U.S. Army officer with more than 28 years of service, an aviator and a physician with a medical degree from the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences. Hines, the backup, piloted NASA's SpaceX Crew-4 mission, was selected in 2017 and is an Air Force colonel with more than 27 years as an instructor, fighter and test pilot.
The mission builds on Artemis II, the crewed flyby of the Moon in April, which tested Orion's life support, navigation and other systems with people aboard in deep space. That data is still being analyzed. Artemis III adds harder operations: docking with separate spacecraft, including one or more commercial lunar landers, and coordinating multiple mission elements. Engineers will evaluate propulsion, communications, software, and rendezvous and docking, and how Orion, the Space Launch System rocket and landers from companies such as SpaceX and Blue Origin work together. NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said the mission would demonstrate American innovation and international partnership, and would require the most awe-inspiring coordination of heavy-lift launches in history.
Casey Dreier, chief of space policy at The Planetary Society, praised the crew but warned that NASA faces some of its largest budget cuts in history, which he said undermine the alliances, partnerships and science needed for long-term success at the Moon.
On pay, NASA astronauts are paid on the federal General Schedule, typically GS-12 to GS-14, roughly $90,000 to $150,000 a year, with no mission-specific bonus or hazard pay. Launch is targeted for no earlier than 2027 from Kennedy Space Center, for about two weeks, with no firm date. The schedule depends on the readiness of the SpaceX and Blue Origin landers and on integrated testing, and delays in either could push it back.
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