NASA has selected four astronauts for the Artemis III mission, a critical test flight in low-Earth orbit to validate rendezvous and docking procedures with commercial lunar landers from SpaceX and Blue Origin. - Commander Randy Bresnik (NASA) leads the crew, with ESA astronaut Luca Parmitano as pilot.
- Mission specialists Frank Rubio (NASA) and Andre Douglas (NASA) round out the team; Rubio holds the record for longest U.S. spaceflight.
- The mission will test Orion's docking with Blue Origin's Blue Moon and SpaceX's Starship landers. - Artemis III paves the way for a human moon landing as early as 2028, the first since 1972.