NASA Names Artemis III Crew — First ESA Astronaut Assigned to an Artemis Mission

NASA announced the Artemis III crew at Johnson Space Center: Commander Randy Bresnik, ESA Pilot Luca Parmitano (the first ESA astronaut assigned to an Artemis mission), and Mission Specialists Frank Rubio and Andre Douglas, with Bob Hines as backup. The mission — redesignated in February 2026 as an Earth-orbit rendezvous/docking demonstration with SpaceX and Blue Origin HLS landers — targets a 2027 launch ahead of the first crewed lunar landing on Artemis IV (2028).