{"id":23501,"date":"2026-06-09T22:00:19","date_gmt":"2026-06-09T14:00:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/artemis-iii-crew-named-veteran-astronauts-to-test-lunar-landers-in-leo\/"},"modified":"2026-07-21T10:56:21","modified_gmt":"2026-07-21T02:56:21","slug":"artemis-iii-crew-named-veteran-astronauts-to-test-lunar-landers-in-leo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/artemis-iii-crew-named-veteran-astronauts-to-test-lunar-landers-in-leo\/","title":{"rendered":"Artemis III Crew Named: Veteran Astronauts to test Lunar Landers in LEO"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>NASA has assigned the four astronauts who will fly the agency\u2019s next crewed Space Launch System mission, an Earth-orbit test flight designed to evaluate one or both human-rated lunar landers before Artemis III.<\/p>\n<p>Commanding the mission will be NASA astronaut Randy Bresnik, with ESA astronaut Luca Parmitano serving as pilot. NASA astronauts Frank Rubio and Andre Douglas round out the crew as Mission Specialists 1 and 2, respectively.\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"NASA Unveils NEXT Artemis Crew + SpaceX &amp; Blue Origin Lander Updates\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/f0oTKtKg5SU?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen=\"\" name=\"fitvid0\" data-gtm-yt-inspected-14=\"true\" data-gtm-yt-inspected-21=\"true\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>The flight, known internally as Artemis III-Prime or a similar designation in current planning, will launch aboard the SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft into low-Earth orbit.<\/p>\n<p>There, the crew will conduct rendezvous, docking, and operations with one or both lander vehicles\u2014likely including a stock Version 3 Starship with a docking adapter, and Blue Origin\u2019s Blue Moon MK2 demonstrator\u2014gathering critical data to de-risk the subsequent lunar landing mission.<\/p>\n<p><iframe id=\"twitter-widget-1\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" allowtransparency=\"true\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" class=\"\" style=\"position: static; visibility: visible; width: 550px; height: 664px; display: block; flex-grow: 1;\" title=\"X Post\" src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/embed\/Tweet.html?creatorScreenName=NASASpaceflight&amp;dnt=true&amp;embedId=twitter-widget-1&amp;features=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%3D%3D&amp;frame=false&amp;hideCard=false&amp;hideThread=false&amp;id=2064379730355204526&amp;lang=en&amp;origin=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nasaspaceflight.com%2F2026%2F06%2Fartemis-iii-veteran-astronauts-test-lunar-landers-leo%2F&amp;sessionId=54711adb606e09e1c14efad66800a1f19445a353&amp;siteScreenName=NASASpaceflight&amp;theme=light&amp;widgetsVersion=6a3ad42b224df%3A1778106238597&amp;width=550px\" data-gtm-yt-inspected-14=\"true\" data-gtm-yt-inspected-21=\"true\" data-tweet-id=\"2064379730355204526\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Commander: Randy Bresnik<\/p>\n<p>Randy Bresnik, a U.S. Marine Corps Colonel, has flown twice before\u2014once on the Space Shuttle and once on Soyuz.<\/p>\n<p>spaceflight<path d=\"M7.59009 18.59L9.00009 20L17.0001 12L9.00009 4L7.59009 5.41L14.1701 12\" style=\"animation: initial !important; 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That mission is remembered for a harrowing spacesuit anomaly during his second EVA when his helmet began filling with water due to a clogged filter in the cooling system.<\/p>\n<p>Parmitano and crewmate Chris Cassidy safely terminated the spacewalk and returned to the airlock despite water reaching his eyes, nose, and mouth, cutting off communications.<br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-113726\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/NSF-2026-06-09-17-49-52-868.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2010\" height=\"1123\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/NSF-2026-06-09-17-49-52-868.jpg 2010w, https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/NSF-2026-06-09-17-49-52-868-350x196.jpg 350w, https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/NSF-2026-06-09-17-49-52-868-626x350.jpg 626w, https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/NSF-2026-06-09-17-49-52-868-768x429.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/NSF-2026-06-09-17-49-52-868-1920x1073.jpg 1920w, https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/NSF-2026-06-09-17-49-52-868-1170x654.jpg 1170w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2010px) 100vw, 2010px\">Undeterred, Parmitano returned to the station in 2019 aboard Soyuz MS-13 and completed four additional EVAs, bringing his career total to six.<\/p>\n<p>A highly experienced test pilot with over 2,000 hours in more than 20 types of fixed- and rotary-wing aircraft (and flight experience in over 40), Parmitano\u2019s piloting expertise will be particularly relevant for evaluating Orion\u2019s handling qualities during rendezvous and proximity operations with the lander vehicles.<\/p>\n<p>Mission Specialist 1: Frank Rubio<\/p>\n<p>Frank Rubio brings extensive spaceflight and operational experience to the commander\u2019s seat. A U.S. Army Colonel and former helicopter pilot with more than 1,100 flight hours\u2014including 600 combat hours in Bosnia, Iraq, and Afghanistan\u2014Rubio was selected by NASA in 2017.<\/p>\n<p>He previously flew a record-setting mission to the International Space Station aboard Soyuz MS-22, launching in September 2022.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"Meet Artemis Team Member Frank Rubio\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/CW5-q-JxC3o?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen=\"\" name=\"fitvid1\" data-gtm-yt-inspected-14=\"true\" data-gtm-yt-inspected-21=\"true\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>After a coolant leak forced the abandonment of the original Soyuz, Rubio and his crewmates spent 371 days in orbit, the longest single spaceflight by an American astronaut. During that mission, he also accumulated more than 21 hours of extravehicular activity (EVA) time.<\/p>\n<p>That long-duration endurance and EVA experience will be valuable for the extended Orion flight and complex operations planned for this test mission.<\/p>\n<p>Mission Specialist 2: Andre Douglas<\/p>\n<p>Andre Douglas, a U.S. Coast Guard Commander, is the only member of the crew without a prior spaceflight, but he is intimately familiar with the Artemis program.<\/p>\n<p>Selected as a NASA astronaut in December 2021, Douglas served as backup crew for Artemis II and was part of the closeout crew that strapped the prime crew into Orion for that mission\u2019s launch.<\/p>\n<p><iframe id=\"twitter-widget-2\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" allowtransparency=\"true\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" class=\"\" style=\"position: static; visibility: visible; width: 550px; height: 996px; display: block; flex-grow: 1;\" title=\"X Post\" src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/embed\/Tweet.html?creatorScreenName=NASASpaceflight&amp;dnt=true&amp;embedId=twitter-widget-2&amp;features=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%3D%3D&amp;frame=false&amp;hideCard=false&amp;hideThread=false&amp;id=2064387110941970840&amp;lang=en&amp;origin=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nasaspaceflight.com%2F2026%2F06%2Fartemis-iii-veteran-astronauts-test-lunar-landers-leo%2F&amp;sessionId=54711adb606e09e1c14efad66800a1f19445a353&amp;siteScreenName=NASASpaceflight&amp;theme=light&amp;widgetsVersion=6a3ad42b224df%3A1778106238597&amp;width=550px\" data-gtm-yt-inspected-14=\"true\" data-gtm-yt-inspected-21=\"true\" data-tweet-id=\"2064387110941970840\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>A Miami native, Douglas\u2019s operational experience and recent intensive training with the Artemis II prime crew position him strongly for the demanding test objectives of this precursor flight.<\/p>\n<p>Mission Status and Timeline<\/p>\n<p>NASA provided a status update on the primary Artemis III lunar landing mission during the crew announcement event.<\/p>\n<p>The agency continues to work toward a 2028 target for the first crewed lunar landing of the Artemis program, though exact dates remain under review as lander development and SLS\/Orion flight schedules mature.<\/p>\n<p>The upcoming crewed Earth-orbit test flight will provide essential operational data on lander performance in the actual environment the Artemis III crew will encounter, helping ensure a safe and successful return to the lunar surface.<\/p>\n<p><em>(Lead Image via Ryan Caton graphic of the Artemis III crew).<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>NASA has assigned the four astronauts who will fly the agency\u2019s next crewed Space Launch System mission, an Earth-orbit test flight designed to evaluate one or both human-rated lunar landers before Artemis III. Commanding the mission will be NASA astronaut Randy Bresnik, with ESA astronaut Luca Parmitano serving as pilot. NASA astronauts Frank Rubio and [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":27828,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[6654],"class_list":["post-23501","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-artemis-iii"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23501"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23501"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23501\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":30707,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23501\/revisions\/30707"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27828"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23501"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23501"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23501"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}