NASA assigns the Artemis III crew, setting a bad time for the launch

The US Space Agency unveiled the Artemis III crew on Tuesday in a ceremony at the Johnson Space Center in Houston.

For the flight in low Earth orbit, which will see the Orion spacecraft meet and land the lunar surface probes, NASA selected a special, all-male armored crew. It was unveiled inside a darkened Teague Auditorium where hundreds of friends, family, and NASA employees cheered wildly.

The four members are:

• NASA astronaut Randy Bresnik, chief of staff
• ESA (European Space Agency) pilot Luca Parmitano, pilot
• NASA astronaut Andre Douglas, mission specialist
• NASA astronaut Frank Rubio, mission specialist

The Artemis III test flight will act as a bridge between the recent Artemis II lunar mission, which was successfully completed in April, and the planned landing of the Artemis IV mission.

“We are the link between Artemis II and Artemis IV,” Bresnik said Tuesday.

Reducing the risks of landing on the moon

NASA extended the Artemis mission to Earth a few months ago after new administrator Jared Isaacman decided the agency needed to “buy the risk” before putting humans on the Moon. And that’s the goal with Artemis III, a job of about two weeks because it was already launched in the summer of 2027.

Space Agency officials outlined plans for the flight on Tuesday, which will include three separate missions and two dockings in the Low-Earth orbit.

The first launch will be a “Blue Origin test vehicle” that can orbit for up to 90 days. Then the four Artemis III astronauts will launch inside the Orion spacecraft atop a Space Launch System rocket. The crew later meets the Blue Moon lander, docks, and enters the Blue Origin vehicle. While on board the crew will test life support systems on the Blue Moon and perform other operations. Orion will pilot the hybrid flying vehicle.