NASA announces Artemis III astronauts, mission’s next steps

VIDEO: NASA’s Artemis program is back in the headlines. The four astronauts who will make up the Artemis III crew have officially been announced and this quartet includes three Americans, and one Italian. This next mission is designed to test the technology that could pave the way for future lunar landings. While it’s not headed for the moon, this next phase of the Artemis program is crucial. Four new astronauts will lead a two-week flight that aims to test out how the NASA-built Orion spacecraft will dock with a lunar lander. The space agency says the primary goal of the mission is to reduce the risk heading into an actual lunar touchdown, something NASA hopes will happen as early as 2028.