Astronaut who nearly drowned in space selected for Artemis III crew

NASA has selected four astronauts for the Artemis III mission, set to launch in 2027, marking a key step toward returning humans to the Moon. The crew includes commander Randy Bresnik and mission specialists Andre Douglas and Frank Rubio from NASA, alongside European Space Agency astronaut Luca Parmitano as pilot. Parmitano, a colonel and test pilot for the Italian Air Force, becomes the first ESA astronaut assigned to an Artemis mission, citing his family as a driving motivation for his career. The mission follows a near-disaster for Parmitano in July 2013, when a spacesuit cooling system failure caused water to flood his helmet during a spacewalk. The leak stemmed from contamination blocking a filter, forcing water into the helmet’s air supply line. Parmitano later described the incident as nearly blinding him, with water spreading into his nostrils and obstructing his breathing. A NASA investigation later criticized management for allowing the spacewalk to proceed after an earlier incident on July 9 and for failing to halt the mission immediately upon Parmitano’s report. Artemis III will conduct critical tests in Earth orbit, including rendezvous and docking demonstrations, using NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion spacecraft. The mission serves as a precursor to Artemis IV in 2028, which aims to land the first crew on the lunar South Pole. Orion will test docking capabilities with commercial human landing systems developed by Blue Origin and SpaceX, paving the way for future lunar exploration. The crew’s selection underscores international collaboration in space exploration, with Parmitano representing ESA’s contributions to NASA’s Artemis program. His past experience with high-pressure situations highlights the rigorous training and adaptability required for deep-space missions. Artemis III will launch from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, building on decades of spaceflight expertise to advance human presence beyond low Earth orbit.