NASA on Tuesday revealed the four astronauts who will join the next Artemis mission — a key, two-week flight that will aim to test out various technologies considered vital to putting astronauts back on the surface of the moon for the first time in more than 50 years.
The crew, set to launch as soon as late 2027, includes three NASA astronauts — first-time space flier Andre Douglas, record-setting astronaut Frank Rubio, and veteran flier and test pilot Randy Bresnik — as well as Italian astronaut Luca Parmitano with the European Space Agency.
Artemis III is designed to serve as a precursor mission to a moon landing, testing out how the NASA-built Orion spacecraft will dock with a lunar lander. The primary goal of the flight, the space agency says, is to “reduce risk” heading into an actual lunar touchdown, which NASA hopes will take place as soon as 2028.
In order to reach the moon’s surface, astronauts will have to complete such a move while in lunar orbit. But for Artemis III, NASA is aiming to test the maneuver much closer to home, sticking to low-Earth orbit, or LEO, the area closest to our home planet and the same region where the International Space Station operates.
The Artemis III crew module is seen inside the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Chandan Khanna/AFP/Getty Images
