HOUSTON \u2013 For Randy Bresnik, being selected to command NASA\u2019s Artemis III mission is more than another trip to space.<\/p>\n
The veteran astronaut, who has called the Houston area home for more than two decades, says the mission represents a crucial step in humanity\u2019s effort to venture beyond low Earth orbit and eventually send astronauts deeper into the solar system.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are taking humanity and working to stop being a single-planet species,\u201d Bresnik told KPRC 2 News after Tuesday\u2019s crew announcement at Johnson Space Center.<\/p>\n
NASA on Tuesday announced Bresnik will command Artemis III, a mission scheduled to launch in 2027 that will test systems needed for future lunar landings. <\/p>\n
The crew includes Pilot Luca Parmitano and Mission Specialists Francisco \u201cFrank\u201d Rubio and Andre Douglas.<\/p>\n
For Bresnik, Artemis III will mark his third spaceflight.<\/p>\n
He first flew aboard space shuttle Atlantis during the STS-129 mission to the International Space Station in 2009. He later launched aboard Soyuz MS-05 and served as a flight engineer for Expedition 52 and commander of Expedition 53 aboard the space station.<\/p>\n
The mission carries special significance because of its role in NASA\u2019s broader Artemis campaign.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis flight is essential to be able to have the moon landing the next time because we\u2019re going to test out the two different landers,\u201d Bresnik said. \u201cWe know that we are enabling the lunar landing on the next flight.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bresnik grew up in Santa Monica, California, and graduated from The Citadel in South Carolina. But after more than two decades in the Houston area, he said Space City is now home.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is where our children were born and raised,\u201d Bresnik said. \u201cThis is Houston, Texas now. Clear Lake City.\u201d<\/p>\n
A retired U.S. Marine colonel, Bresnik has logged more than 7,000 flight hours in 95 types of aircraft and is a fellow in the Society of Experimental Test Pilots.<\/p>\n
Since 2018, he has served as assistant to the chief of the Astronaut Office for exploration, overseeing development and testing of spacecraft and systems that will be used during Artemis missions.<\/p>\n
Bresnik said learning he had been selected for Artemis III came during a meeting with Chief Astronaut Scott Tingle several weeks ago.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe says, \u2018Look around. You\u2019re the crew of Artemis III,\u2019\u201d Bresnik recalled. \u201cIt\u2019s so neat to be able to be there with my crewmates and find out all at the same time.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said sharing the news with his family afterward was especially meaningful.<\/p>\n
When Bresnik launched on his first spaceflight, one of his children was 3 years old and another had not yet been born. By the time Artemis III launches, one child will be in college and the other in high school.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor them, they\u2019ve seen from very young to child to young adult,\u201d he said. \u201cTo see that through their eyes is going to be so awesome.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bresnik said he is already building camaraderie with his fellow crewmembers, describing the group as a \u201cdream crew.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThey are such solid, good people,\u201d he said. \u201cThey are so technically sound. They have a great sense of humor. We don\u2019t take ourselves too seriously.\u201d<\/p>\n
While future Artemis missions are expected to return astronauts to the lunar surface, Bresnik said he views Artemis III\u2019s supporting role as equally important.<\/p>\n
\u201cArtemis II had to do their mission so that we could do ours,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019ll have to do our mission so that Artemis IV can land.\u201d<\/p>\n
Every astronaut dreams of flying in space, Bresnik said, but missions that push exploration beyond low Earth orbit carry special significance.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf we get to do something that gets us beyond low-Earth orbit and thinking farther out with ultimately the destination of Mars in mind, this is the place to be,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
As someone who now considers Houston home, Bresnik said the Artemis program represents an opportunity to continue the city\u2019s decades-long connection to human spaceflight.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is Space City,\u201d he said. \u201cIt is our city, it\u2019s our mission, and we lead.\u201d<\/p>\n
And when astronauts eventually touch down on the moon again, he said, one word will still connect the mission to Houston.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re not going to say Minneapolis, tranquility base here,\u201d Bresnik said. \u201cIt\u2019s going to be Houston.\u201d<\/p>\n
Copyright 2026 by KPRC Click2Houston – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"HOUSTON \u2013 For Randy Bresnik, being selected to command NASA\u2019s Artemis III mission is more than another trip…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":330004,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[90195,75435,56,58,57,30077,251,39294,1911,117899,3951,27,1499],"class_list":["post-330003","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-houston","tag-artemis","tag-artemis-iii","tag-houston","tag-houston-headlines","tag-houston-news","tag-johnson-space-center","tag-local-news","tag-moon","tag-nasa","tag-randy-bresnik","tag-space","tag-texas","tag-u-s-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/330003","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=330003"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/330003\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/330004"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=330003"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=330003"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=330003"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}