Live updates from the Johnson Space Center in Houston as NASA announces the four-person crew for the Artemis III mission, scheduled to take off in 2027.
"Wow" seemed like the word of the day as the Artemis III astronauts shared their thoughts on being selected for the mission.
Each of the four astronauts—NASA's Andre Douglas, Frank Rubio, Randy Bresnik, and ESA's Luca Parmitano—thanked their respective families and space agencies for supporting and uplifting them. Parmitano, who became the third European and first-ever Italian to command the International Space Station during Expedition 61, took the opportunity to thank his country.
"There are many parts that need to come together for a space launch—you need a launch pad. For me, the launchpad is my country, Italy, its education system," said Parmitano.
Pilot Luca Parmitano shares his remarks during the Artemis III crew announcement event as fellow crew members—NASA's Andre Douglas, Frank Rubio, and Randy Bresnik—look on. YouTube/NASA
Bresnik, who was announced as the Commander of the mission, meanwhile, highlighted the significance of the incremental approach the Artemis program is taking to return humans to the surface of the Moon. "Spaceflight is hard. And that's why the most important Artemis mission will always be the next Artemis mission, where we are doing flight tests on every single flight incrementally, determining the flight envelope, expanding it, proving our capabilities, and making the operational procedures we have more and more precise," said Bresnik. Commander Randy Bresnik shares his remarks during the Artemis III crew announcement event as fellow crew members—NASA's Andre Douglas, Frank Rubio, and ESA's Luca Parmitano—look on. YouTube/NASA
In his opening remarks at the Artemis III crew announcement event, NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said, "The NASA team, our contractors, and our partners will start stacking SLS this summer with the aim of beginning early wet dress testing before the end of the year."
He also noted that Blue Origin and SpaceX will test their reusable rockets, gather data, and implement any improvements so as to ensure their compatibility with the Artemis III mission profile no earlier than this time next year.
Expect updates on the SpaceX and Blue Origin lunar landers
The Artemis III crew announcement event will feature mission updates from Blue Origin's John Couluris and SpaceX's Jessica Jensen, in addition to NASA's Jeremy Parsons. So, expect information regarding where the two commercial landers stand in their development.
The Artemis III crew was initially supposed to land on the Moon
Originally scheduled for 2028, the Artemis III mission would have landed its astronauts on the Moon. In February, however, NASA announced a major overhaul of the whole program, stating that it was redesigning Artemis III as an Earth-orbit mission that would take flight earlier—in 2027.
The idea behind the overhaul is to increase launch cadence by adopting a more incremental approach akin to the Gemini and Apollo programs before attempting to land astronauts on the Moon.
Instead of Artemis III, it will be Artemis IV that will return mankind to the lunar surface in 2028.
NASA’s top four-fifths of the SLS (Space Launch System) core stage for the Artemis III mission is offloaded from the agency’s Pegasus barge on Tuesday, April 28, 2026, after arriving at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida the prior day. NASA/Glenn Benson
Speaking from aboard the Orion spacecraft during an Artemis II downlink event, mission specialist Christina Koch had compared the program to a relay race. "In fact, we (Artemis II crew) have batons that we bought to symbolize physically that we plan to hand them to the next crew. And every single thing that we do is with them in mind."
The time to hand those batons over has finally arrived now that the Artemis III crew is set to be announced.
"We couldn't be happier to pass the batons to the Artemis III crew and watch the mission continue, the records be surpassed," wrote Koch, as she posted a photo of the batons on her Instagram yesterday (June 8).
At 11:30 a.m. EDT today, June 9, NASA officials will gather at the Johnson Space Center in Houston to reveal the four astronauts who will fly on Artemis III, scheduled to launch in 2027.
Described as "one of history's most complex missions," the redesigned Artemis III will test critical rendezvous and docking capabilities between NASA's Orion spacecraft and either one or both of the commercial landers from SpaceX and Blue Origin in Earth orbit. The aim is to help NASA and its partners reduce risk before the agency attempts to return humans to the surface of the Moon after Apollo 17 (1972) with Artemis IV, which is expected to take flight in 2028.
Saubhagya Mukherjee
