See you next summer? … NASA chose an experienced, all-male crew with military backgrounds. The individuals were revealed inside a darkened Teague Auditorium where hundreds of friends, family members, and NASA employees cheered enthusiastically: NASA astronaut Randy Bresnik, commander; ESA astronaut Luca Parmitano, pilot; NASA astronaut Andre Douglas, mission specialist; and NASA astronaut Frank Rubio, mission specialist. NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said Artemis III could launch as early as summer 2027, but much work remains before then.
But will New Glenn be ready? The Artemis III mission involves a lot of moving parts, the most significant of which is arguably a Blue Origin demonstration lander launching on a New Glenn rocket. Ars spoke with the Artemis program manager, Jeremy Parsons, to gather more information about this specific element of the mission. The nominal plan is to launch the test lander (essentially a crew module of the Blue Moon Mk2 vehicle) on New Glenn.
Dual path going forward … But of course, two weeks ago, the New Glenn rocket exploded on its launch pad in Florida, causing significant infrastructure damage there. Parsons said NASA is going to work closely with Blue Origin with the intent, for now, of launching on New Glenn. “It’s going to be a dual path,” Parsons said. “They’re really getting in and clearing out SLC-36 right now, and a lot of the key hardware is in really good shape. That being said, we’re going to be working with them hand in hand every single day, and we are bringing every assessment to bear. Like, if I needed to fly on another vehicle, what would that look like?” Vulcan and Falcon Heavy are options.
