June 9 (Reuters) – NASA on Tuesday named three U.S. astronauts and an Italian astronaut as the crew for its next Artemis mission, a docking demonstration involving three spacecraft in Earth’s orbit and planned for next year.
U.S. astronauts Andre Douglas, Frank Rubio and Randy Bresnik and Italian astronaut Luca Parmitano of the European Space Agency will be the crew for Artemis III, due to launch in 2027, with no specific date yet announced.
The four-man mission will test moon landers from Elon Musk’s SpaceX and Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin for the first time in space, setting up a delicate docking demonstration one by one.
Here are some highlights from the crew’s careers:
MISSION COMMANDER RANDY BRESNIK
Bresnik, 58, was selected to join NASA’s astronaut corps in 2004. He has flown to space three times, logging roughly 150 days in space, 32 hours of which he spent spacewalking.
He is a test pilot and retired U.S. Marine Corps colonel who has more than 7,000 hours of flying experience in 95 different aircraft.
PILOT LUCA PARMITANO
Italy’s Parmitano, 49, joined the European Space Agency astronaut corps in 2009 and has flown to space twice. He is the first European Space Agency astronaut to join an Artemis mission and the second non-U.S. citizen, as Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen flew on Artemis II.
The inclusion of Parmitano in the Artemis mission marks Italy’s latest involvement in NASA’s Artemis program, as the agency’s other international partners eye new roles.
MISSION SPECIALIST FRANK RUBIO
Rubio, 50, broke the record for the longest continuous spaceflight by a U.S. astronaut at 371 days during his first and only spaceflight.
He set that record in 2023 when the duration of his six-month stint on the International Space Station doubled because the Russian spacecraft he rode there on sprang a leak while docked. After waiting months for Russia to send a replacement craft, he returned to Earth in early 2023.
Rubio is also a board-certified family physician and flight surgeon.
MISSION SPECIALIST ANDRE DOUGLAS
Artemis III will be the first trip to space for Douglas, 40, who was selected to join NASA’s astronaut corps in 2021. Born in Miami, he holds degrees in various areas of engineering, including three master’s degrees and a doctorate in systems engineering from George Washington University.
Before joining NASA, he served in the U.S. Coast Guard as a naval architect and worked on various NASA programs while at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Lab as a professional staff member.
(Compiled by Joey Roulette; Editing by Jamie Freed)
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