This Tuesday (June 9, 2026), NASA announced the 4 astronauts who will take part in the Artemis 3 mission. North American Randy Bresnik will command the crew, while Italian Luca Parmitano, from ESA (European Space Agency), will be the pilot. The other members are Americans Andre Douglas and Frank Rubio, who will act as mission specialists.
The mission will carry out docking tests and operations in Earth orbit in 2027. The activities will serve as preparation for Artemis 4, a mission planned to take astronauts to the South Pole of the Moon in 2028.
American astronaut Bob Hines was designated as a member of the reserve team and will participate in training alongside the main crew.
The SLS (Space Launch System) rocket will launch the Orion capsule from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida for a mission into low Earth orbit. The spacecraft will perform rendezvous and docking maneuvers with test versions of commercial lunar landing systems developed by Blue Origin and SpaceX.
Blue Origin’s lander will be launched before the crew and will remain in orbit awaiting Orion’s arrival. After docking, the astronauts will enter the vehicle for technological demonstrations and will remain connected to the systems for around 2 days in a series of tests considered essential for future lunar missions.
The crew will spend approximately 2 weeks in space. The exact duration of the mission will be defined according to the progress of launch, rendezvous and docking operations.
This will be the first time that an ESA astronaut has participated in an Artemis mission. The project is the result of a partnership between the European agency and NASA.
RANDY BRESNIK AND LUCA PARMITANO
Randy Bresnik will carry out his 3rd space mission. He participated in the STS-129 mission of the space shuttle Atlantis, destined for the International Space Station, in 2009. He later traveled to the station aboard Soyuz MS-05. He served as flight engineer for Expedition 52 and commander of Expedition 53.
A California native, Bresnik has a degree in mathematics from The Citadel. He was selected by NASA in 2004. A retired colonel from the United States Marine Corps, he has accumulated more than 7,000 flight hours in 95 types of aircraft. Since 2018, he has worked on developing and testing systems for Artemis missions.
Luca Parmitano will also make his 3rd space flight. Selected by ESA in 2009, he participated in his 1st mission to the International Space Station in 2013 and returned to the orbital laboratory in 2019. He served as commander of Expedition 61 and became the 1st Italian to command the station.
Parmitano is a graduate of the Italian Air Force Academy, has a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Naples Federico II and a master’s degree in flight test engineering from the Institut Supérieur de l’Aéronautique et de l’Espace in France. Accumulates more than 2,000 flight hours in 40 types of aircraft.
RUBIO AND DOUGLAS
Frank Rubio will make his 2nd trip to space. The International Space Station was launched in 2022 aboard Soyuz MS-22 and returned to Earth in 2023. It set the record for continuous stay in space among North American astronauts, with 371 days in orbit.
Selected by NASA in 2017, Rubio has a degree from the United States Military Academy and a doctorate in medicine from the Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences. He served for more than 28 years in the United States Army as an aviator, medic and astronaut.
Andre Douglas will make his 1st space flight. Selected by NASA in 2021, he was part of the NASA support team
A native of Virginia, Douglas holds a degree in mechanical engineering from the United States Coast Guard Academy and a doctorate in systems engineering from George Washington University. He served in maritime search and rescue operations during his Coast Guard career and worked on the development of autonomous systems at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory.
