THE NEW YORK TIMES: Meet the astronauts of Artemis III - the next rocket set to soar from Earth

On Tuesday, NASA unveiled the four astronauts — Randy Bresnik, Luca Parmitano, Frank Rubio and Andre Douglas — that will make up the Artemis III crew.

Unlike the mission’s predecessor, Artemis II, this crew will not go to the moon. Instead, they will fly to low-Earth orbit to test rendezvous and docking maneuvers with one or two lunar landers. These maneuvers will be used during a future moon landing, which NASA hopes to attempt in 2028.

Mr Bresnik, the newly minted Artemis III commander, shared in an interview that staying in Earth orbit did not dampen his excitement.

“We know that there is no Artemis moon landing without doing this essential test work,” he said.

That Artemis III would be a “unifying link” between the last mission and the nation’s next lunar landing, Mr Bresnik added, “is one of the things that makes this super exciting.”

In April, NASA’s Artemis II mission sent four astronauts — Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen — to the vicinity of the moon for the first time in more than half a century.

That mission was also historic because of what the crew looked like. Mr Glover was the first Black man to fly near the moon, and Ms Koch became the first woman. Jeremy Hansen, the fourth Artemis II crew member, was the first Canadian.

Of the Artemis III astronauts, Mr Douglas is Black and Mr Rubio was the first astronaut of Salvadoran descent to go to space.

MR Parmitano, who is Italian, is the European Space Agency’s first representative on board an Artemis program mission. This time, however, there are no women on the crew.

“I don’t think anyone should be reading into this,” Jared Isaacman, the NASA administrator, said at a media briefing following the Artemis III announcement. NASA “put forth the best astronauts to undertake and complete the mission’s objectives.”

The agency once committed to land the first woman, the first person of colour, and the first non-American astronaut on the moon. But it removed that pledge from its website weeks after the Trump administration initiated a Federal crackdown on diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives in early 2025.

Mr Isaacman added that the last astronaut candidate class initiated by NASA had more women than men. But he did not provide insight into how the Artemis III astronauts were chosen.

According to Mr Bresnik, the astronauts found out they had been tapped for Artemis III weeks ago. And unlike previous missions Mr Bresnik has flown on, the astronauts found out together.

“To have that unveiling moment with the crew I get to fly with was very special,” Mr Bresnik said.

Here’s what to know about the new crew.

Randy Bresnik, Commander

Mr Bresnik, the Artemis III commander, is the old man of the crew. He joined NASA in 2004, and he is the only one who flew on a space shuttle — a two-week mission on Atlantis in 2009 — before those vehicles were retired. Later, Mr Bresnik was the lead astronaut on the “closeout crew” for the Space Shuttle Program’s final mission in 2011.

Mr Bresnik also spent 4.5 months in orbit in 2017 as a crew member on the International Space Station.

Before NASA, he was a fighter pilot in the US Marine Corps. Across several deployments, he logged more than 7,000 hours in various types of aircraft — and 3,600 hours in spacecraft.

From 2018 until his selection as part of the Artemis III crew, Mr Bresnik has been serving as assistant-to-the-chief of the Astronaut Office for Exploration, helping to develop and test vehicles for the Artemis program.

Luca Parmitano, Pilot

Now the pilot for the Artemis III mission, Mr Parmitano became well known for a mishap during a 2013 spacewalk. After beginning a planned six-hour spacewalk, Mr Parmitano’s helmet started filling with water because of an issue with his spacesuit’s liquid-based cooling system.

Mission Control quickly terminated the spacewalk, and despite the water in his helmet blurring his vision, Mr Parmitano was able to safely return to the International Space Station.

After referencing the ill-fated spacewalk, Joseph Achbacher said during the crew announcement that Mr Parmitano will bring “Italian ease” to the high-stakes Artemis III mission.

Mr Parmitano will be the European Space Agency’s first representative on board an Artemis program mission. He began his career as a test pilot and then colonel with the Italian air force, and has since spent 367 days in space so far, including during his most recent mission: serving as the first Italian commander of the International Space Station in 2019-20.

“I’m very humbled by the task in front of us, but first and foremost I’m grateful,” Mr Parmitano said.

Andre Douglas, Mission Specialist

After serving as a backup crew member for the Artemis II mission, Mr Douglas will finally have a chance to go to space himself.

A native of Chesapeake, Virginia, he will serve as one of Artemis III’s mission specialists. Mr Douglas was first selected as an astronaut in 2021 following a career serving in the US Coast Guard and then as a senior professional staff member at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Lab.

When Artemis III enters low Earth orbit, it will be Mr Douglas’ first time in space. He is the only crew member for whom it will be the first time venturing beyond Earth.

“Mom, thank you so much for believing in me,” Mr Douglas said during the crew announcement at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston.

Frank Rubio, Mission Specialist

Mr Rubio’s last trip to space was an extended adventure. In September 2022, he travelled in a Russian Soyuz capsule to the International Space Station, expecting to stay there for six months. But then, while docked to the space station, the Soyuz suffered a coolant leak. Mr Rubio — a physician by training — had to remain on the station until a replacement Soyuz could be sent up.

That created a problem if the space station had to be evacuated. NASA did not believe the damaged Soyuz was safe enough for the astronauts. A temporary seat was created for Mr Rubio on a SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft that was also docked to the space station.

Mr Rubio finally returned to Earth in September 2023 after 371 days, the longest single continuous stay in space by an American astronaut.

Before joining NASA in 2017, he served as an aviator and a physician in the US Army. He flew a Black Hawk helicopter during deployments to Bosnia and Afghanistan.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

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