NASA announces the crew of its critical Artemis III mission
Key takeaways
- Three Americans and an Italian walk into an Orion spacecraft...
- NASA Following the historic success of the Artemis II Moon mission earlier this year, NASA today announced the four astronauts who will crew the agency's forthcoming Artemis III mission.
- NASA has set an aggressive timeline for the mission.
Three Americans and an Italian walk into an Orion spacecraft...
NASA Following the historic success of the Artemis II Moon mission earlier this year, NASA today announced the four astronauts who will crew the agency's forthcoming Artemis III mission. The crew consists of four men, three of whom — Andre Douglas, Frank Rubio and Randy Bresnik — are NASA astronauts. The forth and final crewmember is Italian Luca Parmitano of the European Space Agency, who will fly the Orion spacecraft.
NASA has set an aggressive timeline for the mission. The agency's administrator, Jared Isaacman, said NASA's aim is to start wet dressing — a critical fueling test all rockets must complete before flying — Artemis III as soon as later this year. Stacking of the super heavy-lift rocket is scheduled to begin this summer. What's more, Isaacman said Blue Origin will take part in the mission, a surprising announcement given the fiery end to the company's most recent New Glenn rocket trial. The "hotfire test" left Blue Origin's Florida launchpad badly damaged.