Sawt Falasteen - Italian Luca Parmitano to be first European to join an Artemis mission: NASA

Parmitano, who will represent the European Space Agency (ESA), is one of four men named as crewmembers and tasked with carrying out Artemis 3, which is targeting launch in 2027.

Artemis is a series of missions geared towards returning humans to the Moon, perhaps as soon as 2028.

During the NASA unveiling, Parmitano grew emotional as he thanked his family and the space agencies that made his nomination possible.

He called Italy his "launchpad" into space and ESA a bridge, dubbing the US space agency NASA "the rocket, figuratively and literally."

Three NASA astronauts are also on the crew: Randy Bresnik will command the mission, and Andre Douglas and Frank Rubio round out the rest of the team as mission specialists.

This past spring's Artemis 2 mission saw humans conduct a lunar flyby, but the third phase will stay closer to Earth.

The primary goals of the trip include testing the abilities of NASA's Orion spacecraft, as well as a rendezvous with lunar landers developed by the private space companies SpaceX and Blue Origin.

The timeline of the mission had been thrown into question after the New Glenn rocket developed by Jeff Bezos's Blue Origin exploded during a ground test late last month, damaging the launchpad infrastructure.

During Tuesday's event at Houston's Johnson Space Center, John Couluris of Blue Origin acknowledged the "significant anomaly" but insisted they will be ready for Artemis 3 on time.

"We have redoubled our efforts and are moving forward," he said.

- Baton handoff -

Parmitano was a test pilot for the Italian Air Force before becoming a colonel, and was selected as an ESA astronaut in 2009.

He has completed two missions aboard the International Space Station and carried out complex spacewalks, including one that could have turned deadly when his helmet began filling with water.

"He handled it with calm and clarity, and brought himself back safely," said Josef Aschbacher, head of the ESA, in remarks on Tuesday.

"I'm sure he brings a touch of Italian ease to the cockpit," he continued to laughs. "He is exactly the right person for this role, and he is ready."

Commander Bresnik was selected as a NASA astronaut in 2004, and his veteran experience includes flying on a space shuttle before that program was retired.

And Rubio carried out the longest single spaceflight by a US astronaut in history, spending 371 days in space after a coolant leak prolonged the journey.

The crewmembers of Artemis 2 handed off the baton to the latest team.

"You've got the controls," said Reid Wiseman, the commander of that lunar mission.

Bresnik praised the Artemis 2 team for igniting global interest in spaceflight as they flew around the Moon.

"While this may look like just a baton," Bresnik said, "it feels like big flaming hot Olympic torch."

The Artemis 2 mission featured the first Black man, Victor Glover, and the first woman, Christina Koch, to fly around the Moon. Jeremy Hansen became the first Canadian to carry out such a mission.

- Racing against China -

On Tuesday, the agency's administator Jared Isaacman emphasized that NASA was aiming to dock with both a Blue Origin lander and one developed by Elon Musk's SpaceX.

Jeremy Parsons, Artemis program manager, voiced confidence that despite any concern over Blue Origin's readiness, the mission was on track.

"We will use this mission to reduce risk for our future crewed Moon missions with lander test articles from both Blue Origin and SpaceX, to ensure we will beat China back to the Moon," Parsons said.

The Artemis 3 mission sets the stage for two Moon landing attempts by NASA, which are slated for 2028.

B.AbuZeid--SF-PST