Uploaded May 2026 | Updated September 2026, 3 hours ago
Artemis III is NASA's next crewed mission, scheduled for 2027 — but it's not going to the moon. In fact, it’s a mission similar to Apollo 9. So what is Artemis III, and why does it matter more than you might think?
We break down exactly what Artemis III will do, why NASA really added it to the Artemis program, and how it sets up a race between SpaceX and Blue Origin for the first crewed moon landing since 1972 (currently called Artemis IV, scheduled for 2028).
We've fully animated the mission to help you visualize Artemis III before it happens. Our animation primarily features Blue Origin's Blue Moon Mark 2 lunar lander, which we first modeled for our cinematic VFX short: youtube.com/watch?v=JiGeAQN-kRQ No diss to the Starship HLS, we just already had Blue Moon ready to go for this animation!
The crew was announced on June 9, 2026. The Artemis III crew will be Randy Bresnik (NASA Commander), Luca Parmitano (ESA Pilot), Frank Rubio (NASA Mission Specialist), and Andre Douglas (NASA Mission Specialist).
There is still a lot we don't know. But this is everything as of May 21, 2026.
All animations by Andy Belcher — follow him on Instagram: @andy_animates
🚀 Digital Astronaut merch (including our new Orion shirts):
etsy.com/shop/DigitalAstronautShop
If you found this useful, a like and subscribe helps more than you know. Thanks for watching!
00:00 - What Comes After Artemis II?
01:33 - What Artemis III will do
08:05 - Why did NASA really create Artemis III?
13:37 - When will Artemis III launch?
Artemis III is NASA's next crewed mission, scheduled for 2027 — but it's not going to the moon. In fact, it’s a mission similar to Apollo 9. So what is Artemis III, and why does it matter more than you might think?
We break down exactly what Artemis III will do, why NASA really added it to the Artemis program, and how it sets up a race between SpaceX and Blue Origin for the first crewed moon landing since 1972 (currently called Artemis IV, scheduled for 2028).
We've fully animated the mission to help you visualize Artemis III before it happens. Our animation primarily features Blue Origin's Blue Moon Mark 2 lunar lander, which we first modeled for our cinematic VFX short: youtube.com/watch?v=JiGeAQN-kRQ No diss to the Starship HLS, we just already had Blue Moon ready to go for this animation!
The crew was announced on June 9, 2026. The Artemis III crew will be Randy Bresnik (NASA Commander), Luca Parmitano (ESA Pilot), Frank Rubio (NASA Mission Specialist), and Andre Douglas (NASA Mission Specialist).
There is still a lot we don't know. But this is everything as of May 21, 2026.
All animations by Andy Belcher — follow him on Instagram: @andy_animates
🚀 Digital Astronaut merch (including our new Orion shirts):
etsy.com/shop/DigitalAstronautShop
If you found this useful, a like and subscribe helps more than you know. Thanks for watching!
00:00 - What Comes After Artemis II?
01:33 - What Artemis III will do
08:05 - Why did NASA really create Artemis III?
13:37 - When will Artemis III launch?
