Meet NASA’s Artemis III Astronauts

Randy Bresnik, Frank Rubio, Andre Douglas, and Luca Parmitano combined bring thousands of hours of flight experience.

Jack Daleo

Tuesday, June 09, 2026 at 05:25 PM ET

Verified

Edited By:

Zach Vasile

NASA on Tuesday announced the crewmembers for its Artemis III mission (from left): NASA astronaut Andre Douglas, European Space Agency astronaut Luca Parmitano, and NASA astronauts Randy Bresnik and Frank Rubio. [Credit: NASA/Bill Stafford]

Key Takeaways:

NASA announced the four-person Artemis III crew, led by Randy Bresnik, who received the symbolic "baton" from the Artemis II astronauts, signifying the continuation of lunar exploration.
Artemis III is a critical two-week low-Earth orbit mission designed to test the integration and functionality of commercial Human Landing Systems (HLS) from SpaceX (Starship) and Blue Origin (Blue Moon).
The mission, anticipated no earlier than next year, is crucial for de-risking future crewed lunar landings and involves complex orbital maneuvers with both HLS vehicles, which are still undergoing significant development and testing.

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On Tuesday, NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch—three of the four crewmembers on NASA’s historic Artemis II mission in April—literally passed the baton to the next four astronauts participating in the space agency’s lunar exploration program.

“We’ve been carrying these batons around for way too long,” Wiseman told Randy Bresnik, who NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman on Tuesday named the commander of the low-Earth orbit (LEO) Artemis III mission. “You’ve got the controls.”