NASA announces the crew of its critical Artemis III mission

Three Americans and an Italian walk into an Orion spacecraft...

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.

John Couluris, the company's senior vice president of lunar permanence, said Blue Origin's prototype Moon lander would be ready to fly in time for Artemis III in 2027, adding the company had "redoubled our efforts" to repair its facilities. "This mission is designed to take calculated risks to make future missions safer," said Jeremy Parsons, NASA acting assistant deputy administrator.