NASA has selected four astronauts for a redesigned Artemis III mission that will remain in Earth orbit while testing spacecraft intended for future crewed landings on the Moon. Randy Bresnik will command the flight, European Space Agency astronaut Luca Parmitano will serve as pilot, and Frank Rubio and Andre Douglas will be mission specialists. Bob Hines will train as backup.
The mission is expected to launch in 2027 and last about two weeks. Instead of attempting a lunar landing, the crew will demonstrate rendezvous and docking operations with one or both commercially developed landers under construction by SpaceX and Blue Origin. Those vehicles are planned to carry astronauts to the lunar surface during Artemis IV in 2028.
The test addresses a central part of NASA’s landing architecture. On a later lunar mission, a lander must meet the agency’s Orion capsule in orbit around the Moon, take two crew members to the surface, support them during their stay and then return them to Orion for the trip home. Artemis program manager Jeremy Parsons said the Earth-orbit flight would exercise coordinated operations across hardware, software, propulsion and life-support systems.
NASA originally intended Artemis III to put astronauts on the Moon. Administrator Jared Isaacman changed the sequence in 2026, adding missions and moving the first attempted landing to Artemis IV. The agency describes the intermediary flight as a way to accept calculated test risk and improve the safety and prospects of the following crew.
Three assigned astronauts have flown before. Bresnik, a retired U.S. Marine colonel selected by NASA in 2004, made two trips to the International Space Station and commanded an expedition in 2017. Parmitano, an Italian former air force test pilot, also completed two station missions, commanded an expedition in 2019 and performed six spacewalks.
Rubio spent 371 days aboard the station from 2022 to 2023, setting NASA’s record for the longest single spaceflight by an American. Douglas, an engineer selected as an astronaut in 2022, will make his first flight. He previously trained as the Artemis II backup crew member.
SpaceX and Blue Origin both said their lander programs could support the test schedule. Blue Origin reported that work was under way on its Artemis III Mark 2 crew module and associated control, docking and life-support systems, with a target of launch readiness in 2027. Questions about its timetable remained after an engine-test explosion damaged the company’s only operational launch pad.
NASA said a redesigned Orion heat shield had been built, inspected and was ready for installation. The component drew attention after damage occurred on the uncrewed Artemis I flight. Data from Artemis III will inform Artemis IV as the agency pursues a sustained human presence on the Moon.
