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Just over two months after Moon Joy swept Earth during NASA’s Artemis II mission to the Moon, the U.S. space agency has announced the four astronauts who will partake in the Artemis III mission, the next phase of a progressive series of missions aimed at landing and establishing a permanent Moon Base by the end of the decade.
On April 1, Commander Reid Wiseman, Pilot Victor Glover, and mission specialists Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen flew a 10-day, 250,000-mile flight around the Moon, circling the satellite and seeing some parts of it for the first time with human eyes before looping back around the far side and splashing down in the Pacific Ocean. The mission captured the imagination of children and adults the world over and sparked an interest in spaceflight not seen since the Apollo missions of the 1960s.
The mission yielded one unexpected Miami connection: On the seventh day of the trip, the astronauts woke up to the song “Tokyo Drifting” by Glass Animals and Carol City rapper Denzel Curry. The Artemis III mission will have deeper Miami connections.
Mission specialist Andre Douglas, 40 — the first Artemis III crew member announced this morning — was born in Miami. Though he was raised in Chesapeake, Virginia, the astronaut has other ties to Florida: According to NASA, his father is based in Tampa.
Introduced by NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman as a test engineer and Coast Guard Reserve commander, Douglas will go to space for the first time with Artemis III. He will be joined by fellow mission specialist Colonel Frank Rubio, Commander Randy Bresnik, and Luca Parmitano of the Italian Space Agency.
As it turns out, Rubio has an even closer relationship with Miami. An Army flight surgeon and aviator, the astronaut holds that American flight record for the longest spaceflight (371 days).
Rubio, 50, was born in Los Angeles to Salvadoran parents. He lived in El Salvador as a young child, then moved to Miami, where he attended Miami Sunset Senior High.
In his first public remarks since the announcement, Douglas said, “Wow, what an amazing day it is today. My brain, it is going a mile a minute right now. But my heart? My heart, it is so warm. It is so full.”
Douglas thanked his parents and gave his dad a special, timely shout-out: “Oh, and by the way, happy early Father’s Day!” The astronaut also thanked his wife, Rachel, his children, and his crew.
“This mission is going to be fantastic,” he said. “What an excellent crew. Very proud to serve with these gentlemen. Very fine crew. Go Artemis, go NASA.”
Today’s morale boost comes just a couple of weeks after a major setback for NASA and its private partner, Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin. On May 28, the company, which has been tasked with building rockets to transport rovers and essential tools for establishing a Moon Base, exploded in spectacular fashion at the Kennedy Space Center, lighting up the Space Coast night sky a bright orange hue.
The “anomaly” was among the most powerful of the space exploration age and has thrown the Artemis timeline into question. Today’s announcement was scheduled well before the failure, but it now serves as a reminder that NASA aims to continue the missions, despite delays.
Watch the complete announcement below:
