Artemis III astronauts revealed for 'complex' NASA mission
Artemis III follows the successful Artemis II mission around the moon.
NASA has revealed the astronauts selected for the next Artemis mission, following the space agency's historic lunar flyby.
Artemis III will launch the crew in the Orion spacecraft on top of the Space Launch System rocket in 2027 in a "complex" mission, according to NASA.
The crew includes three Americans and an Italian astronaut in the European Astronaut Corps for the European Space Agency: Commander Randy Bresnik, pilot Luca Parmitano of Italy, mission specialist Frank Rubio and mission specialist Andre Douglas, NASA officials announced.
Another NASA astronaut, Bob Hines, was named as a backup crew member and will also train with the four astronauts.
"This mission is going to captivate the world and bring us Earth joy," Vanessa Wyche, director of NASA's Johnson Space Center, said during an event announcing the crew.
During the event, Artemis II Commander Reid Wiseman symbolically passed a baton to Bresnik while joined by other members of the Artemis II crew.
"The world watched your mission, and over the course of those 10 days, we saw how you inspired people worldwide. You saw how something was ignited within people, it was ignited within all of us by watching your mission," Bresnik told them, referring to the baton as an "Olympic torch" that the Artemis II crew lit. "We, the Artemis III crew, are honored to be able to carry this torch forward, to be able to execute our mission, to make that flame burn brighter and pass it on."
Bresnik joined his fellow crew members in thanking their families, NASA and the European Space Agency for the "opportunity to represent all of humanity" on the mission.
"My brain, it is going a mile a minute right now, but my heart, my heart, it is so warm. It is so full," Douglas said.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
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