NASA Names Four Astronauts for Critical Moon Mission Test Flight: Crew of Artemis III will practice docking with lunar landers while staying close to Earth.

NASA introduced the four astronauts who will fly the next major Artemis mission on Tuesday, a two-week shakedown flight designed to test the maneuvers needed before anyone actually lands on the moon again.

The crew includes three NASA astronauts first timer Andre Douglas, record holder Frank Rubio, and veteran test pilot Randy Bresnik along with Italian astronaut Luca Parmitano from the European Space Agency. Their mission is scheduled to launch as early as late 2027.

Here's the twist: Unlike the original plan, Artemis III won't actually touch the moon. Instead, the crew will stay in low-Earth orbit the same neighborhood as the International Space Station to practice docking with lunar landers. It's a step NASA says is essential before attempting an actual moon landing, now targeted for 2028.

"I'm humbled to be part of this crew," said Bresnik, who will command the mission. "We're the link between Artemis II, which just flew around the moon, and Artemis IV, where we'll finally put humans back on another celestial body."

Why the change of plans?

NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman surprised everyone in February when he scrapped the original Artemis III moon landing plan. His reasoning? The agency was trying to jump too far, too fast.

"We didn't go right to Apollo 11," Isaacman said earlier this year. "We had Mercury, Gemini, lots of Apollo missions first."

So Artemis III becomes a practice run. The crew will launch from Florida in an Orion capsule, then wait for at least one lunar lander possibly SpaceX's Starship, Blue Origin's Blue Moon, or both to join them in orbit. They'll practice docking with each, test life support systems, and then come home with a Pacific Ocean splashdown.

Meet the crew:

Randy Bresnik, 58 (Commander) A test pilot and veteran of both space shuttle and Soyuz missions. Nicknamed "Komrade," he's been helping design Artemis missions from the inside as assistant to NASA's chief astronaut.

Andre Douglas, 40 (Mission Specialist) A former Coast Guard officer with three master's degrees and a Ph.D. He served as backup for the historic Artemis II lunar flyby, so he already knows how to fly the Orion spacecraft. This will be his first time in space.

Frank Rubio, 50 (Mission Specialist) Holds the U.S. record for longest single spaceflight: 371 days. (He also famously lost the first tomato grown in orbit.) A former Army aviator, combat veteran, and family physician.

Luca Parmitano, 48 (Pilot) The first Italian to command the International Space Station. He's survived a spacewalk where his helmet began filling with water and brought himself back safely. "That tells you more than any CV ever could," said ESA's director general.

A tight timeline:

These four men have just one year to prepare. For comparison, the Artemis II crew trained for three years. And in an unusual move for NASA, the crew is all male a break from recent patterns of including women on major missions.

Meanwhile, both SpaceX and Blue Origin face uncertain timelines. Blue Origin suffered a major setback last month when one of its New Glenn rockets exploded during a ground test.

But Isaacman sounded optimistic Tuesday, saying NASA plans to test its own massive SLS rocket in a "wet dress rehearsal" by the end of the year.

"It's not about rushing," Bresnik said. "It's about doing this right."