The Italian astronaut is one of the four crew members of the mission scheduled for autumn 2027
The Italian astronaut Luca Parmitano was officially selected as pilot of the Artemis III mission of NASA, whose launch is expected in the second half of 2027. Parmitano, an Air Force colonel and veteran of the European Space Agency (ESA), will fly together with American commander Randy Bresnik and specialists Frank Rubio and Andre Douglas. During the official announcement in Houston, the Sicilian astronaut showed himself visibly moved and expressed his profound gratitude by dedicating a thought to his origins and his family: “I apologize in advance if I get emotional. I am honoured. For a space launch many components are needed: my launch base was my country, Italywho gave me the education needed to achieve this mission. THE’Esa was the launch towerwhich allowed me to build relationships and express my full potential. NASA was the rocketand thank you for allowing me to be a part of this amazing crew“.
Luca Parmitano will be the pilot of Artemis III
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Parmitano’s appointment represents a historic milestone for Italy and for the whole of Europebeing the only European astronaut to be part of this crew. Joseph Aschbacher, Director General of ESA, proudly underlined how this assignment reflects the high level of European expertise in space flightgreeting the astronaut with a warm: “Dear Luca, we are proud of you, have a good flight!”.
For his part, Minister Adolfo Urso reiterated that this choice confirms the Italy’s leading role in the new technological and scientific challenge for the return of man to the Moon. Parmitano himself recounted the amazement he experienced at the moment of the summons, which he received while he was on board a train: “I was so incredulous that I asked my boss to repeat exactly what he saidi.e. ‘Luca you have been assigned as a pilot to the Artemis III mission’. I was surrounded by people, so I knew I couldn’t say anything out loud where I’m at left speechless“.
the mission preparing for the moon landing
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Although the mission does not involve a direct moon landingArtemis III will be crucial to test in low Earth orbit (at approximately 463 kilometers above sea level) the critical technologies that will definitively pave the way towards the satellite. Due to the accumulated delays, NASA has in fact modified the initial plans: the crew will spend a year training to test the complex docking operations between the Orion capsule and the lunar landing modules of the private companies SpaceX and Blue Origin, as well as testing the new Axiom Space spacesuits created in collaboration with Prada. The success of this mission, defined by NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman as a demonstration “of the strength of American innovation and international cooperation“, will lay the foundations for the actual Moon landing, currently scheduled with the subsequent Artemis IV mission by the end of 2028.
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