FOX News Multimedia Reporter Chelsea Torres joins FOX Weather Correspondent Brandy Campbell to provide an exclusive report with the Artemis II space team to ask them about the mission and updates since the splashdown of the lunar mission. #ArtemisII #Space #NASA #Moon #Earth #FOXWeather
NASA announced the names of the four astronauts who will participate in the Artemis III mission into low Earth orbit to complete necessary tests for the next phase of the Artemis program.
Commander Randy Bresnik, Pilot Luca Parmitano and Mission Specialists Andre Douglas and Frank Rubio will be the four astronauts heading back into space aboard the Orion spacecraft.
Artemis III astronauts Randy Bresnik, Luca Parmitano, Frank Rubio and Andre Douglas.
(NASA/YouTube / NASA)
NASA made the announcement at Johnson Space Center in Houston on Tuesday morning.
The crew is made up of three NASA astronauts and one European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut.
Commander Randy Bresnik was selected as a NASA astronaut in 2004. He’s logged more than 3,600 hours in space and made his space debut in 2009, according to NASA.
“We are certainly humbled as a crew to be able to be your crew that executes this Artemis three mission in space, being that unifying link between the phenomenal Artemis two mission we just had two months ago, and the Artemis forward mission that will follow ours,” Bresnik said.
NASA astronauts applaud during the announcement of the Artemis III crew.
(NASA)
Pilot Luca Parmitano was selected as an ESA astronaut in 2009. He made his space debut in 2013. He was the first ever Italian International Space Station Commander during a 201-day mission in 2020, according to the ESA.
“I’m honored by the role that I’ve been given,” Parmitano said. “I’m also very humbled by the task in front of us. But first and foremost, I’m grateful.”
The Artemis III crew poses for an official portrait (from left: Andre Douglas, Luca Parmitano, Randy Bresnik, Frank Rubio).
(NASA/Bill Stafford / NASA)
Mission Specialist Andre Douglas was selected by NASA to be an astronaut in 2021. This is his space debut. In 2024, Douglas was announced as a backup crew member for the Artemis II mission.
“What an amazing day it is today. My brain, it is going a mile a minute right now. But my heart, my heart, it is so warm. It is so full,” Douglas said.
NASA and its partners work on the solar array wings for the agency’s Artemis III Orion spacecraft on Thursday, April 30, 2026, inside the Neil A. Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
(NASA/Ben Smegelsky / NASA)
Mission Specialist Frank Rubio was chosen to be a NASA astronaut in 2017. Rubio broke the record for the longest single duration spaceflight by a U.S. astronaut with a mission of 371 days back in 2023, according to NASA.
“Wow is the right word. What an incredible blessing and an honor it is to be standing here representing all of you,” Rubio said.
NASA STARTS PREPARATIONS FOR ARTEMIS III MISSION WITH SPACE LAUNCH SYSTEM ROLLOUT
The space administration also announced the backup crew member: Bob Hines.
Hines was selected to be a NASA astronaut in 2017. He was part of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-4 mission in 2022, logging 170 days in space during the mission.
Artemis II astronauts Reid Wiseman, Christina Koch and Victor Glover come on stage with Artemis III crew Randy Bresnik, Luca Parmitano, Andre Douglas and Frank Rubio.
(NASA)
In February, NASA said Artemis III, which was originally planned to be the first lunar landing mission, would change to a mission to carry four astronauts into low Earth orbit to conduct tests on the rendezvous and docking capabilities between the agency’s Orion spacecraft and commercial lunar landers from Blue Origin and SpaceX.
The mission will launch in 2027 from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) will launch the Orion spacecraft with the four astronauts inside into space.
NASA’s top four-fifths of the SLS (Space Launch System) core stage for the Artemis III mission is offloaded from the agency’s Pegasus barge on Tuesday, April 28, 2026, after arriving at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida the prior day
(NASA/Frank Michaux / NASA)
The core stage of the rocket is already at Kennedy Space Center, having arrived in late April, where it continues to undergo work to prepare for Artemis III in 2027.
Jeremy Parsons, NASA’s Moon to Mars Program administrator, said the Orion spacecraft will spend roughly two days docked with the Blue Origin lander, with the crew crossing the hatch into the lander and operating several tests.
Orion will detach and await SpaceX’s Starship, which will dock with Orion for about a day before the crew prepares for the return back to Earth, Parsons said.
MEET RISE, THE BELOVED ARTEMIS II MASCOT THAT TRAVELED TO THE MOON AND BACK
NASA said the mission will last around two weeks.
More information, including when the mission will launch, is yet to be announced.
