NASA Has Announced The Names Of The Crew Members For The Artemis 3 Mission

• 10.06.2026, 12:26

The crew will consist entirely of men.

NASA has announced the crew for the Artemis 3 mission, which is set to launch into Earth orbit from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida in 2027, according to BBC.

The expedition will include pilot Luca Parmitano, two mission specialists Andre Douglas and Frank Rubio, as well as commander Randy Bresnik.

Although a lunar landing is not planned for the third mission, the data collected during the flight will be used to prepare for the next phase of the lunar program, NASA says.

The U.S. space agency plans to return humans to the Moon’s surface in 2028, where they are scheduled to spend about a week.

One of the key objectives of the Artemis 3 mission will be to test docking with prototype landers using technologies and equipment developed by the private space companies SpaceX and Blue Origin, as well as to test new spacesuits.

After completing the mission, which is expected to last about two weeks, the crew will splash down in the Pacific Ocean.

Unlike the previous Artemis-2 mission, during which astronauts conducted a crewed flyby of the Moon in April, this time the crew will consist exclusively of men.

Bressnik, Rubio, and Douglas are NASA astronauts, while Parmitano represents the European Space Agency (ESA).

The hosts of the BBC radio program Outside Source spoke with Meghan Christian, an ESA backup astronaut and senior researcher at the UK Space Agency, who knows Parmitano personally.

“He’s an incredible person,” she says. Parmitano began his career as a test pilot for the Italian Air Force—a position he still holds today.

He has already flown to space twice and spent a total of 366 days in orbit. “I am very proud that he is participating in the Artemis mission,” Christian added.

Mission Commander Bresnik has spent 149.5 days in space, Rubio nearly 371 days, and for Douglas, this will be his first flight.