National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Announces Artemis III Crew for Lunar Mission

Exam-focused facts from the 11 June 2026 current affairs briefing.

Key facts

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) aims to land humans on the lunar South Pole by 2028 as part of the Artemis programme.
The Artemis III crew consists of Commander Randy Bresnik, Pilot Luca Parmitano from the European Space Agency (ESA), and Mission Specialists Frank Rubio and Andre Douglas.
NASA is developing the Axiom Extravehicular Mobility Unit (AxEMU) spacesuits in partnership with Axiom Space and the Italian fashion house Prada.
The agency is partnering with private companies SpaceX and Blue Origin to develop the lunar landers required for the mission.
The programme seeks to return humans to the Moon more than 50 years after Eugene Cernan, the last astronaut to walk on the Moon in December 1972 during the Apollo 17 mission.