NASA Recasts Artemis III as 2027 Earth-Orbit Rehearsal, Names Four-Astronaut Crew

NASA on Tuesday named the four astronauts assigned to Artemis III and, more significantly, confirmed that the mission is now a 2027 low-Earth-orbit test flight meant to rehearse rendezvous and docking ahead of Artemis IV, which under the agency’s current plan is targeted to attempt the program’s first crewed Moon landing in early 2028.

The Artemis III prime crew is Randy Bresnik, commander; Luca Parmitano of the European Space Agency, pilot; and mission specialists Andre Douglas and Frank Rubio. NASA also named Bob Hines as the backup crew member, training alongside the prime crew and available to replace any of them if needed. Parmitano is the first ESA astronaut assigned to an Artemis mission.

Under the mission plan NASA outlined in its June 9 announcement, an SLS rocket will launch the Orion spacecraft and its four-person crew from Kennedy Space Center to low Earth orbit. After checkout of Orion’s systems, the astronauts will demonstrate rendezvous and docking with test versions, or pathfinders, of one or both commercial Human Landing Systems being developed by Blue Origin and SpaceX. The crew is expected to spend about two weeks in space, though NASA said the exact duration will depend on launch timing and how docked operations unfold in real time.

The change is central to understanding Artemis III. Earlier this year, NASA restructured the Artemis sequence, inserting an in-orbit demonstration mission and moving the first crewed lunar-surface landing from Artemis III to Artemis IV. That makes Artemis III a risk-reduction flight — what NASA has described as an “Apollo 9”-style shakedown in Earth orbit — before Artemis IV, now targeted for early 2028, carries astronauts toward a landing attempt.

NASA said Artemis III will also mark the first flight of Orion’s docking system, adding another first to a mission already designed as a complex, multi-launch campaign. In addition to the SLS-Orion launch, the plan calls for separate launch or launches carrying the lander pathfinder spacecraft that Orion will meet in orbit. NASA said the Artemis III crew will begin training immediately on Orion systems and will help with development and operations for the Blue Origin and SpaceX lander test articles.

The update comes two months after Artemis II, the crewed lunar flyby that precedes Artemis III in the program, launched and returned successfully in April. Its splashdown on April 10 gave NASA a completed crewed test around the moon before the agency pivots to the newly inserted Earth-orbit rehearsal mission.

The international dimension is unusually concrete in this assignment. ESA provides Orion’s European Service Module, which supplies propulsion, power and thermal control for the spacecraft, making Parmitano’s selection both symbolic and operationally important. ESA Director General Josef Aschbacher said in NASA’s release that “Artemis III will push the boundaries of spacecraft operations in orbit. Luca’s assignment as pilot reflects the depth of European expertise in human spaceflight … At the same time, ESA’s European Service Module will once again provide the critical capabilities that power Orion, demonstrating Europe’s enduring role at the very heart of the Artemis program.”

Jeremy Parsons, writing in NASA’s May 13 technical outline of the mission, summed up the agency’s case for the redesign: “While this is a mission to Earth orbit, it is an important stepping stone to successfully landing on the Moon with Artemis IV. Artemis III is one of the most highly complex missions NASA has undertaken,” he said.