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Nasa Reveals Artemis III Crew for 2027 Mission
Confirmed
In Short: Nasa has announced details for its Artemis III mission, set to launch in summer 2027, with a crew of four astronauts who will orbit the Moon for up to 17 days.
Nasa has unveiled the crew for its Artemis III mission, which is scheduled to launch in the summer of 2027. The mission will see four astronauts orbit the Moon for up to 17 days, paving the way for the Artemis IV mission in 2028, which aims to land astronauts on the lunar surface for the first time since 1972.
The Artemis III mission is described by Nasa as the most complex mission it has ever attempted. The mission will use the same rocket and spacecraft as the Artemis II mission, which saw astronauts fly around the Moon and back to Earth.
The mission will require the coordinated launches of three of the world's most powerful rockets: Blue Origin's New Glenn, SpaceX's Super Heavy-Starship, and NASA's Space Launch System. The upper stage of the rocket, called 'the Ship,' will serve as the prototype lander, though it has not yet been fitted out with life support systems.
Nasa's Space Launch System rocket will launch from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, carrying the four Artemis III astronauts in the Orion capsule. The mission will test the in-orbit refuelling technology, which a March 2026 report from the US Government Accountability Office found SpaceX had made 'limited progress' maturing.
The Artemis III mission will be a critical test flight, enabling Nasa to prove its ability to carry out highly choreographed operations with its partners across hardware interfaces, software propulsion systems, and life support elements with crew in the high-stakes space environment.
Administrator Jared Isaacman emphasized the urgency and discipline required for the mission, stating, 'This is a story as much about their discipline, focus, and urgency, as it is about the weight of NASA's institutional inertia and displaced priorities and decades of decisions that have held America's space program back.'
The Artemis program's strategy includes an alternative path to a lunar landing in 2028 using a lander built by either SpaceX or Blue Origin, depending on which one testing indicates is the right choice. This approach aims to provide a backup in case either company encounters supply chain problems or significant technical issues.
Both SpaceX and Blue Origin are racing to build the landers for Artemis III, with competition seen as a way to concentrate resources and achieve objectives more efficiently. Nasa is confident that Blue Origin's New Glenn launchpad will be ready by December or January 2027, meeting the timeline for the Artemis III mission in summer 2027.
What this adds
The Artemis III mission will be a critical step in Nasa's long-term goal of establishing a sustainable presence on the Moon, which is more challenging than the Apollo-style commuter flights.
Background
Mathematicians are grappling with a flood of new results from artificial intelligence, including potential solutions to longstanding Millennium Prize Problems.
What's confirmed
- "It's a playbook this agency knows really well — the same playbook that went from Apollo 7 splashdown to Apollo 11 in just nine months."
- "It's not entrepreneurial thinking or tech industry pixie dust or some new management philosophy," Isaacman said.
What's still developing
- It will last for 14 days, although it could be extended to 17 days if needed.
- The New York Times framed it as NASA still aiming for the next Moon landing in 2028, NBC News called it a major overhaul of the Artemis moon program, and CBS News, Florida Today, Space Policy Online, WRAL and the Orlando Sentinel carried their own versions.
- Administrator Jared Isaacman said Friday that the space agency is still on track to launch Artemis III next summer on a docking exercise with Elon Musk’s and Jeff Bezos’ lunar landers.
- Axiom will test these new so-called “sortie suits” on the International Space Station next year.
- More landers, rovers and orbiters will follow, so many that by the time the first Artemis moonwalkers arrive, their moon car will already be there waiting for them, according to officials.
- Setting up a long-term presence is what makes this so much more challenging than the Apollo-style commuter flights, said NASA astronaut Frank Rubio, who is part of the Artemis III crew.
- "We can dial them separately. Just because we go fast doesn't mean we're not doing the right things."
- "Regardless of who goes first, both providers are planning for lunar landing missions in 2028," said Jeremy Parsons, NASA's Artemis program manager.
- "Speed and rigor are not the same dial. They're just not," Kshatriya said.