00:00The Artemis III astronauts are here.
00:02I'm at the Johnson Space Center, where after weeks of speculation,
00:05NASA has officially revealed the crew who will fly on Artemis III,
00:08the agency's next step toward returning astronauts to the moon.
00:12Commanding the mission will be Randy Bresnik, a veteran NASA astronaut,
00:16former Army helicopter pilot, and former chief astronaut
00:18who has spent almost 150 days in space across two missions
00:21and conducted three spacewalks.
00:24Joining him as pilot is Luca Parmitano of the European Space Agency,
00:27a former Italian Air Force test pilot.
00:30Parmitano is a two-time space flyer, veteran spacewalker,
00:33and former commander of the International Space Station.
00:35He's also the first ESA astronaut to ever get assigned to an Artemis crew.
00:39Serving as one of the mission specialists is Frank Rubio,
00:42who made history in 2023 by spending 371 consecutive days in orbit,
00:46the longest single spaceflight ever completed by an American astronaut.
00:50During that mission, he helped maintain the station
00:52and conducted multiple spacewalks.
00:54The fourth crew member is mission specialist Andre Douglas,
00:57an engineer, naval architect, and Coast Guard Reserve officer
00:59who joined NASA's astronaut corps in 2021.
01:02Douglas served as the backup crew member for Artemis II
01:04and has been deeply involved in Artemis mission planning
01:07and lunar exploration development.
01:09Artemis III is currently planned as an Earth orbit mission
01:11that will test critical technologies needed for future lunar landings.
01:15The crew will launch aboard NASA's Orion spacecraft
01:17and help demonstrate rendezvous and docking operations
01:20with commercial lunar landing systems from SpaceX and Blue Origin.
01:23The crew will also test out hardware for the Artemis lunar spacesuits from Axiom.
01:28NASA officials describe the mission as one of the most complex spacecraft demonstrations
01:32the agency has ever attempted.
01:34So, as the road back to the moon continues,
01:36we now know exactly who will be leading the way.
01:38Let's give it one more round of applause for your Artemis III Prime crew.
01:48Let's see.
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