Four-man crew named for NASA's next mission in Artemis moon programme

Three Americans and an Italian have been named as the crew members for NASA's next mission in the Artemis moon programme.

The project will involve a spacecraft docking demonstration in Earth's orbit in 2027.

The Artemis III crew will not fly to the moon or land on the surface.

Instead, they will practice docking their Orion capsule with two lunar landers.

The two-week mission will test landers from Elon Musk's SpaceX and ​Jeff Bezos' Blue ⁠Origin for ⁠the first time in space.

The test of key systems will take place before a planned moon landing in 2028.

Who are the four-man crew?

At an unveiling ceremony in Houston, Texas, the NASA astronauts in the Artemis III crew were named as commander Randy Bresnik, and mission specialists Andre Douglas and Frank Rubio.

The pilot will be European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Luca Parmitano from Italy.

Bresnick, a former space station commander, marine corps colonel and test pilot with more than 7,000 flight hours, said: "We are certainly humbled as a crew to be able to be your crew that executes this Artemis III mission in space."

Douglas, a test engineer and coastguard reserve commander who will be making his first space flight, added: "My brain - it is going a mile a minute right now. But my heart, it is so warm. It is so full."

Rubio is an army Black Hawk helicopter pilot and a GP doctor, while Parmitano is the first Italian space station commander, an Italian air force colonel and test pilot.

Parmitano said: "[My] launchpad is my country, Italy... The European Space Agency is like a launch tower... the rocket, figuratively and literally, is NASA."

Rubio said: "What an incredible blessing and an honour it is to be standing here representing all of you."

Musk and Bezos involvement

SpaceX and Blue Origin are racing to deliver the lunar landers.

Blue Origin suffered a setback when its massive rocket exploded last month during an engine-firing test on the launch pad in Florida.

NASA's Jeremy Parsons said the setback was a learning opportunity and that the space agency was confident Blue Origin's rocket would be ready in time.

Moon base goal

In May, NASA awarded hundreds of millions of dollars in contracts to four companies, including Blue Origin, to build landers, rovers and drones for a future moon base.

NASA administrator Jared Isaacman said the goal of the moon base is to lay the foundation for a Mars expedition.

He added: "To the Artemis III crew, we wish you Godspeed on the journey ahead."

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Norm Knight, NASA flight operations director, told the Houston ceremony: "I am excited to welcome you as the next crew in the Artemis journey to successfully return to the moon, this time to stay.

"This mission will be one of the most complex that NASA has undertaken and we are counting on your courage and your dedication in fulfilling this critical role."

He went on: "It also underscores the importance of both international and commercial collaboration. This crew is comprised of astronauts from NASA and ESA and they will train together to develop their expertise in multiple spacecraft from our commercial partners."

The planned new mission comes after a crewed Artemis II flight ​around the moon and back ⁠earlier this year.

And it will be another key test for NASA ahead of Artemis IV, planned for 2028, which will be the US space agency's first moon landing since 1972.

(c) Sky News 2026: Four-man crew named for NASA's next mission in Artemis moon programme