NASA Names 4 Artemis III Astronauts as Blue Origin Blast Threatens 2027 Moon Test
Updated
Updated · The New York Times · Jun 9
NASA Names 4 Artemis III Astronauts as Blue Origin Blast Threatens 2027 Moon Test
3 articles · Updated · The New York Times · Jun 9
Summary
Four astronauts are due to be unveiled Tuesday for Artemis III, alongside a NASA “confidence update” on the mission after Blue Origin’s New Glenn exploded during a May 28 test fire.
That blast damaged Blue Origin’s only New Glenn launchpad at Cape Canaveral, and experts say repairs could take months or longer—putting pressure on NASA’s accelerated schedule.
NASA now plans Artemis III as a mid-2027 low-Earth-orbit mission to test rendezvous and docking with one or two lunar landers, rather than a moon landing.
Those landers are being built by Blue Origin and SpaceX for later Artemis IV and V surface missions, so NASA could delay Artemis III or rely only on SpaceX if New Glenn remains grounded.
The Artemis program still targets returning humans to the moon in 2028, but the crew announcement comes with fresh uncertainty over whether Blue Origin can stay in the plan.