On June 9, a much anticipated announcement was made by Jared Isaacman, NASA’s top administrator. At the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Isaacman named the four members of the crew of the Artemis III mission slated for late 2027. Three of the four are NASA trained astronauts while the fourth is from the European Space Agency.
Randy Bresnick, 58, will serve as commander of the flight bringing experience from several NASA missions as well as experience on the Soyuz mission in 2009. He’s a retired United States Marine Corps officer, an F/A-18 Test Pilot and served in Operation Iraqi Freedom. Equipped with a master’s degree in aviation systems, he later attended the Air War College in Alabama. Frank Rubio, 50, traveled to space on the Russian Soyuz mission in 2022 to serve on the International Space Station (ISS) for six months. However, he ended up earning a record 370 days in space because of technical problems with the Soyuz aircraft. Rubio is a family physician and flight surgeon and holds a bachelor’s degree in international relations from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. He’s also a military jumpmaster with over 650 skydives in his career.
Newcomer Andre Douglas, 40, trained as a backup for Artemis II and the upcoming Artemis III mission will be his first opportunity in space. After completing a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the Coast Guard, Douglas earned three master’s degrees in the areas of marine engineering, naval architecture (University of Michigan) and electrical & computer engineering (Johns Hopkins). Then he completed his Ph.D. in systems engineering from George Washington University. After serving as an officer in the Coast Guard, Douglas worked at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Lab for 6 years before entering NASA’s astronaut training program.
The 4th member of the crew is Luca Parmitano, 49, from the European Space Agency (ESA). He has flown in space twice which included 6 spacewalks and was the first-ever Italian International Space Station commander. Parmitano was a test pilot and Colonel in the Italian Air Force and has an educational background in experimental flight test engineering and international law.
Some fun, or maybe not-so-fun, facts about this crew? Luca Parmitano successfully landed a military plane after a bird strike and was later awarded the Silver Medal of Aeronautic Valor by the President of Italy. He is known for handling dangerous situations with ease such as the time his helmet began filling up with water during a spacewalk in 2013. Coincidentally, while Andre Douglas hasn’t yet flown in space, his spacesuit failed underwater during a training exercise. He credits his Coast Guard training for his fast and effective response.
Amongst the astronaut corps, Frank Rubio is known for losing a red dwarf tomato on the ISS after putting it in a ziploc bag. It simply floated away in microgravity. Rubio said he searched for nearly 20 hours but it wasn’t discovered until 8 months later hidden behind a hatch. The fourth astronauts’ story occurred in 2009 when Randy Bresnick was on a spacewalk outside the ISS. As he reentered the ISS, the crew shared the news that his wife Rebecca had given birth to a baby girl in Houston. “On behalf of the planet Earth ground team, please accept our heartfelt congratulations,” Mission Control said.
Artemis III will lift off from Kennedy Space Center in Florida with the four astronauts in the Orion capsule propelled by the Space Launch System (SLS). The goal of Artemis III is to evaluate lunar landing systems in low earth orbit. To fulfill this goal, there are three objectives. Firstly, the Orion spacecraft will dock with the Human Landing System (HLS) which is designed to transport crews from lunar orbit to the surface of the moon. Secondly, the astronauts will open the hatch and enter the commercial lander. Once inside the lander, they will test the operability of the life support and control systems designed for space. Lastly, the four astronauts will test out new spacesuits designed by Axiom Space. In addition, during a two week timeframe, the mission will focus on communication capabilities like data exchange, supply chain efficiencies and training proficiency. The crew will observe Earth, especially Earth’s atmosphere and how space weather impacts it, and conduct scientific experiments which will ultimately contribute to the knowledge of planet Earth.
It’s a complex endeavor and one that many people wouldn’t pursue professionally. Dr. Nicola Fox, NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, says “space is not for the faint of heart”. As the chief scientist for Artemis III, she should surely know.
