NASA names 4 astronauts on the 'highly complex' Artemis III lunar training mission

NASA introduced the four astronauts scheduled to fly on next year's Artemis III mission. (From left to right) NASA commander Randy Bresnik, European Space Agency pilot Luca Parmitano, NASA mission specialists Frank Rubio and Andre Douglas at a press conference announcing the crew at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, on Tuesday. Ronaldo Schemidt/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

NASA named the international crew of four that will fly on its next Artemis mission as early as next year. It's a key test flight ahead of a human landing mission to the lunar surface that the agency calls "one of the most highly complex missions NASA has undertaken."

The Artemis III mission , while vital to future moon missions, will remain closer to home in low-Earth orbit. There, it will demonstrate the Orion spacecraft's rendezvous and docking capabilities with two commercially designed and built lunar landers.

NASA astronaut Randy Bresnik will command the mission. A member of the U.S. Marine Corps, Bresnik has flown to space twice and logged 149 days off the planet. European Space Agency astronaut Luca Parmitano, from Italy, will serve as the mission's pilot. Parmitano has also been to space twice, including one dangerous spacewalk that was cut short when he nearly drowned as his helmet filled up with water.

NASA's Frank Rubio and Andre Douglas will serve as mission specialists. Rubio served in the U.S. Army and is a board-certified family physician and flight surgeon. He has flown to space once, to the International Space Station on a Russian Soyuz capsule. After engineers discovered the spacecraft was damaged, Rubio's stay was extended while awaiting a new ride, and he set the record for longest spaceflight by an American at 371 days.

This will be the first spaceflight for Douglas. The Coast Guard reserve officer was selected as a NASA astronaut in 2021. He is a systems engineer with a doctorate from George Washington University. Douglas served as backup crew to Artemis II.

"This mission is going to be fantastic," he said at the crew's announcement Tuesday from NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. "What an excellent crew. Got Artemis! Go NASA!"

Artemis III is a crucial mission as NASA tests key pieces of hardware that will return humans to the lunar surface as early as 2028 — and for the first time since 1972 .