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NASA on Tuesday revealed the four astronauts who will be part of the Artemis III mission – the next step in NASA's goal of landing humans and to build a moon base on the lunar surface. NASA made the announcement at Johnson Space Center in Houston.
Credit: NASA
Meet Artemis III crew
- NASA astronaut Randy Bresnik, Commander
- ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Luca Parmitano, Pilot
- NASA astronaut Andre Douglas, Mission specialist
- NASA astronaut Frank Rubio, Mission specialist
What is the Artemis III mission?
Artemis III is the third mission in NASA's Artemis program to return humans to the surface of the moon.
For this mission, the crew won't go to the moon. Instead, they will be sent to low-Earth orbit to test the Orion's spacecraft's ability to rendezvous and dock with one or two lunar landers.
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When is the Artemis III launch?
The Artemis III mission is expected to launch sometime in 2027, although no exact date has been announced.
Will the New Glenn explosion impact Artemis III?
Blue Origin is one of the companies developing a lunar lander for the Artemis program.
The company's New Glenn rocket was supposed to carry the lander to space. However, the rocket exploded at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station last month during a static fire test.
The explosion damaged the company's only launchpad for the New Glenn.
The question still remains: Will Blue Origin be ready to fly in time for Artemis III?
The Source: This article was written with information released by NASA and from previous reporting.