NASA has officially named the four-person crew for the Artemis III mission, marking the final orbital test phase before humans return to the lunar surface.
“This mission will be one of the most complex that NASA has undertaken,” said Norm Knight, NASA flight operations director.
He emphasised that the agency relies on the crew’s dedication to fulfil its critical role, which involves a series of challenging tests in Earth orbit planned for 2027.
Jeremy Parsons, NASA’s Artemis programme manager, clarified that the mission should last two weeks.
He noted that Artemis III serves as the final rehearsal; if successful, NASA intends to land a crew at the lunar South Pole during an Artemis IV mission in 2028.
International crew
Commander Randy Bresnik, a retired Marine Corps colonel and test pilot with more than 7,000 flight hours, will lead the team.
Bresnik, who previously commanded the International Space Station, remarked that the programme will eventually make humans “the first to land on another celestial body” in more than five decades.
