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2h ago

NASA Names Artemis III Crew for 2027 In‑Orbit Docking Rehearsal

The flight will validate Orion’s rendezvous, docking with commercial lunar landers to cut risk before a planned 2028 crewed Moon landing.

The crew for NASA's upcoming Artemis 3 mission, posing here for their official portrait, was announced on Tuesday June 9, 2026. Left to right: Andre Douglas, Luca Parmitano, Randy Bresnik, Frank Rubio. Credit: NASA/Bill Stafford
Astronauts Randy Bresnik, Luca Parmitano, Frank Rubio and Andre Douglas are unveiled as the NASA Artemis III mission crew at an event at NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, U.S., June 9, 2026. REUTERS/Antranik Tavitian/File Photo
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At a press conference on June 9, NASA announced the crew of its upcoming Artemis 3 mission to low-Earth orbit. Commander Randy Bresnik, pilot Luca Parmitano and mission specialists Frank Rubio and Andre Douglas will make up the four-person crew.

Overview

  • NASA announced the crew on June 9: Randy Bresnik will command, Luca Parmitano will serve as pilot, Andre Douglas and Frank Rubio will be mission specialists, and Bob Hines will train as the backup.
  • Artemis III has been re‑scoped into a 2027 low‑Earth‑orbit test that will exercise procedures needed for future lunar transfers rather than land on the Moon.
  • Mission sequencing calls for separate launches of commercial lander pathfinders followed by Orion, with Orion docking first to Blue Origin’s lander for about two days and later to SpaceX’s Starship for about a day.
  • The plan requires three heavy launches, tight vehicle and software integration, and about two weeks in orbit, and NASA has already started crew training and systems integration work.
  • Industry setbacks, including Blue Origin’s recent New Glenn test‑pad explosion and regulatory scrutiny of Starship, create schedule risk for the 2027 demo even though NASA says partners are being accelerated to meet timelines ahead of Artemis IV in 2028.