While this mission won’t be landing on the Moon just yet, it's the ultimate "dress rehearsal" for humanity’s return to the lunar surface. The crew will be performing a high-stakes orbital dance, testing out docking procedures with both SpaceX’s Starship and Blue Origin’s Blue Moon landers to make sure everything is ready for the crewed lunar landing tentatively planned for 2028.
Here’s the team taking us one step closer to the Moon:
Commander Randy “Komrade” Bresnik: A veteran Marine fighter pilot and TOPGUN graduate. He’s the only member of this crew to have flown on a Space Shuttle mission and is a former ISS commander.
Pilot Luca Parmitano: An ESA astronaut and experienced test pilot. He’s a veteran of two long-duration stays on the ISS and was the first Italian to command the space station.
Mission Specialist Frank Rubio: An Army helicopter pilot and physician who holds the U.S. record for the longest single-duration spaceflight (a massive 371 days!).
Mission Specialist Andre Douglas: A space rookie, engineer, and Coast Guard reserve commander. He’s a former backup for the Artemis II mission and is set to make his first trip to space on this flight.
This mission is essentially the "Apollo 9" of our generation—proving the hardware works in Earth's orbit before we take that giant leap back to the Moon. 🌕
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