NASA named the astronauts who will travel to the Moon in 2027

The crew of the Artemis 3 mission, which will send a crew to the Moon in 2027, will include astronauts Andre Douglas, Luca Parmitano, Frank Rubio, and Randy Bresnik.

This was announced by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) on its website.

"NASA astronaut Bob Hines was named as the backup crew member. The crew will immediately begin training on Orion spacecraft systems and will also assist in the development and testing of landing vehicles by Blue Origin and SpaceX," the release stated.

NASA added that during the mission, the astronauts will conduct a series of complex tests in low Earth orbit. The results obtained will be used for the Artemis 4 mission, during which crew members will travel to the South Pole of the Moon in 2028.

In April, a report by NASA's Inspector General showed that significant delays in spacesuit development by Axiom Space could jeopardize the agency's plans to land astronauts on the Moon in 2028. According to the document, the original deadlines for demonstrating equipment for use in microgravity conditions, scheduled for 2025 and 2026, proved to be overly optimistic.