NASA official gave a major update on next year’s planned mission for Artemis III, including its crew:

Mission Specialist Andre Douglas
Mission Specialist Frank Rubio
Pilot ESA Luca Parmitano
CDR Randy Bresnik

Mission Specialist Andre Douglas

Andre Douglas took an unusual path to the astronaut corps. Born in Miami in 1985 and raised in Chesapeake, Virginia, he served in the U.S. Coast Guard as a naval architect, salvage engineer and officer of the deck before joining NASA.

Douglas has a deep education, with degrees from the Coast Guard Academy, the University of Michigan, Johns Hopkins University and a doctorate in systems engineering from George Washington University.

NASA selected him in 2021 from a field of more than 12,000 applicants, and he later served as a backup crew member for the Artemis II lunar mission.

Mission Specialist Frank Rubio

Frank Rubio holds the record for the longest single spaceflight by an American. Born in Los Angeles in 1976, the West Point graduate is an Army physician and helicopter pilot who joined NASA’s 2017 astronaut class.

He launched aboard Soyuz MS-22 in September 2022 on a mission planned to last six months, but a coolant leak from a debris strike forced an empty replacement capsule to be sent up, stretching his stay past a year.

Rubio returned to Earth in September 2023 after more than 370 days in orbit, where he conducted three spacewalks and ran experiments that included growing tomatoes and 3D-printing knee cartilage.

Pilot Luca Parmitano (ESA)

Italian astronaut Luca Parmitano has become one of Europe’s most experienced spacefarers. Born in Paterno, Sicily, in 1976, he is a colonel and test pilot in the Italian Air Force with more than 2,000 flying hours across 40 aircraft types.

The European Space Agency selected him in 2009, and he flew his first long-duration mission in 2013, spending 166 days aboard the International Space Station.

During his 2019 mission he became the first Italian to command the station, and across his career he has logged more than 366 days in space and six spacewalks.

Commander Randy Bresnik

Randy “Komrade” Bresnik commands deep aviation and spaceflight experience. Born in Fort Knox, Kentucky, in 1967, he considers Santa Monica, California, his hometown and earned his commission in the U.S. Marine Corps in 1989. He flew the F/A-18 as a test pilot and saw combat over Kuwait during Operation Iraqi Freedom before NASA selected him in 2004.

A veteran of shuttle mission STS-129, he commanded the International Space Station during Expedition 53 and has logged more than 7,000 flight hours across 95 aircraft types and five spacewalks.