NASA has announced the crew for the Artemis III mission, scheduled for 2027. The crew comprises Commander Randy Bresnik, Pilot Luca Parmitano, and mission specialists Frank Rubio and Andre Douglas. Collectively, they will conduct docking procedures with test versions of lunar landers in Earth’s orbit and establish the foundation for the inaugural human lunar landing since the Apollo era, as part of Artemis IV in 2028. What information is available regarding their backgrounds?
Source: nasa.gov
Crew Commander Randy Breznik
Randy Breznik was born in Fort Knox, Kentucky, and considers Santa Monica, California, his hometown. He earned a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from The Citadel, the Military College of South Carolina, in 1989, and later a master’s degree in aviation systems from the University of Tennessee in 2002. He is a retired U.S. Marine Corps colonel with the call sign “Komrade” and over 7,000 flight hours on 95 types of aircraft and over 3,600 hours in spacecraft. NASA selected Breznik for the astronaut corps in 2004.
His inaugural flight occurred in 2009 aboard the space shuttle Atlantis as part of the STS-129 mission, during which he conducted two spacewalks totaling nearly 12 hours.
In 2017, Randy Bresnik participated in space missions as a flight engineer for Expedition 52 and served as the commander for Expedition 53 aboard the International Space Station. He is distinguished as one of the few astronauts in history whose child was born during his time in space.
In 2014, Breznik directed the NEEMO 19 underwater expedition at the Aquarius submerged research installation off the coast of Florida, where the team rehearsed protocols for the International Space Station and upcoming deep-space missions. Since 2018, he has overseen the development and evaluation of all systems designated for operation beyond low Earth orbit as part of the Artemis initiative within the Astronaut Office. This will constitute his third spaceflight, during which he will assume leadership of the crew and the Orion spacecraft throughout all mission phases.
Pilot Luca Parmitano
Luca Parmitano was born in 1976 in Paternò, Sicily, and regards Catania as his hometown. He obtained a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Naples Federico II, completed a joint U.S.-European NATO flight training program, and subsequently earned a master’s degree in flight test engineering from the French Higher Institute of Aviation and Space. ESA admitted Parmitano into its astronaut corps in 2009. He is divorced and is raising two daughters.
He has completed two extended missions to the International Space Station: in 2013 as part of Expeditions 36 and 37, and in 2019–2020 as part of Expeditions 60 and 61. During these missions, he became the first Italian and the third European to serve as station commander. Throughout both missions, Luca Parmitano conducted six spacewalks, totaling over 33 hours. One of these spacewalks in 2013 nearly resulted in a fatal incident: due to a malfunction in the spacesuit’s cooling system, approximately one and a half liters of water flooded his helmet, communication with Earth was nearly severed, and he had to navigate blindly on his return journey to the airlock.
Parmitano will serve as the inaugural ESA representative on the Artemis mission crew. Onboard, he will share responsibilities for piloting the Orion spacecraft with Bresnik, as both are test pilots, and the spacecraft necessitates two pilots for operation. An asteroid, Lucaparmitano (37627), discovered in 1993, is named in his honor. Additionally, he made history as the first DJ in space. Regarding nutrition, Parmitano is optimistic and confident that Italian cuisine will be included in the menu, as he considers Italian culinary tradition a UNESCO treasure.
Mission Specialist Frank Rubio
Frank Rubio was born in 1975 in Los Angeles to parents who had emigrated from El Salvador. He graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1998 with a bachelor’s degree in international relations. Subsequently, he served as a UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter pilot in the U.S. Army and conducted combat operations in Bosnia, Afghanistan, and Iraq. Rubio later obtained his medical degree from the University of Health Sciences and was appointed as a combat surgeon and aviation medicine physician within the 10th Special Mission Group. In 2017, he was selected by NASA to join the astronaut corps.
In September 2022, Frank Rubio traveled to the International Space Station (ISS) aboard the Soyuz MS-22 spacecraft. The mission was initially scheduled to last approximately six months; however, due to a coolant leak in the docked spacecraft, the crew remained at the station for nearly twice that duration until a backup spacecraft arrived. During this period, Rubio completed approximately 5,936 orbits around the Earth, traveled over 252 million kilometers, and performed three extravehicular activities totaling more than 21 hours. His cumulative time of 371 days in orbit established a record for American astronauts for the longest duration of a single mission.
During Rubio’s orbital mission, his eldest daughter reached her first year at the U.S. Naval Academy, and his other daughter was enrolled at West Point. Upon his return, he acknowledged that he would not have consented to such a lengthy flight had he been aware of it beforehand. On Artemis III, he will assume the role of mission specialist during the test docking of Orion with the lunar landers.
Mission Specialist Andre Douglas
Andre Douglas was born in Miami and was raised in Chesapoke, Virginia. He earned a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the U.S. Coast Guard Academy, obtained two master’s degrees from the University of Michigan in mechanical engineering and naval architecture and marine engineering, respectively, and also received a master’s degree in electrical and computer engineering from Johns Hopkins University. Additionally, he holds a Ph.D. in systems engineering from George Washington University. His aspiration to explore space originated in childhood, inspired by his fascination with astronomy and telescopes.
During his tenure with the Coast Guard, Andre Douglas served as a naval architect and rescue operations engineer, engaging in efforts to intercept drug trafficking activities. At the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, he contributed to the development of the DART mission — the world’s first planetary defense test against an asteroid threat — and participated in the design of an instrument for Japan’s MMX interplanetary mission aimed at studying Mars’ moons. In 2021, NASA admitted him into the astronaut corps.
Douglas served as a backup crew member for Artemis II and personally assisted in securing his colleagues in their Orion seats on launch day as part of the landing team. Upon being announced as a member of the Artemis III crew, he stated, “My mind has not yet had sufficient time to process this news.” Artemis III will be his inaugural spaceflight. On that mission, he, similar to Rubio, will undertake the role of mission specialist during test procedures related to docking with the landing modules.
Backup astronaut Bob Hines
The backup crew member position has been allocated to NASA astronaut Bob Hines. Even prior to his selection for the astronaut corps in 2017, he held the role of a test pilot at the Johnson Space Center, where he engaged in various activities including manual flight testing of the Orion spacecraft. Historically, Hines served for more than 23 years in the U.S. Air Force, fulfilling roles such as a flight instructor, fighter pilot, and test pilot. He has completed 76 combat missions and accumulated over 4,000 flight hours across 50 different aircraft types.
In 2022, Mr. Bob Hines conducted his inaugural flight as a pilot aboard the SpaceX Crew-4 mission to the International Space Station, where he remained for a duration of 170 days. Upon his return, he assumed leadership responsibilities in the testing and certification processes of crewed spacecraft within the framework of the Commercial Crew Program, overseeing the Starliner and Crew Dragon missions. In the course of preparations for Artemis III, Mr. Gains will undergo training for all four crew positions to enable him to substitute any of the primary astronauts if required.
Provided by: spacenews.com, planetary.org, nasa.gov, nasa.gov/people/randolph-komrade-bresnik, nasa.gov/people/frank-rubio, nasa.gov/people/bobhines, esa.int/Luca_Parmitano, wikipedia/Artemis_III, wikipedia/Luca_Parmitano, wikipedia/Andre_Douglas, britannica.com
