NASA Explains Why There Are No Female Astronauts in the Artemis III Crew
In recent days, the crew participating in the Artemis III mission, set to launch in 2027 and aimed at testing the Starship and Blue Moon landers from SpaceX and Blue Origin, was announced. The selected astronauts are Randolph Bresnik (NASA) as the commander, Luca Parmitano (ESA) as the pilot, Andre Douglas (NASA) as a mission specialist, and Francisco (Frank) Rubio (NASA) as another mission specialist. Bob Hines (NASA) will serve as the backup astronaut.
As can be noted, these are all male astronauts, which raised various criticisms online shortly after the announcement. Jared Isaacman (NASA administrator) explained the situation with a lengthy post on X (formerly Twitter), clarifying various aspects of the mission, including the lack of female astronauts. According to the senior executive, the reasons are multiple; it's not a matter of gender. Instead, it results from a combination of various factors that influenced the selection.
Why There Are No Female Astronauts in Artemis III
Isaacman recalled that he himself had been to space twice during the private commercial space missions Inspiration4 and Polaris Dawn. In both cases, women were included in the crew (half of the crew), specifically Sian Proctor and Hayley Arceneaux for the first mission, and Sarah Gillis and Anna Menon for the second.
He added that nearly half of the Directors of NASA's scientific research centers and mission leadership are women. In the latest astronaut candidates class, the majority were female (selected under the Trump administration). The choice was not based on gender but rather on selecting the best candidates.
The office responsible for selecting crew members for a mission aims to achieve predetermined objectives while considering many factors. Specifically, it refers to the prior knowledge and experience of each member (such as test pilot experience), participation in specific development programs, and availability during the timeframe indicated for the mission.
Some female astronauts are currently engaged in training for future missions to the International Space Station and therefore were not available for another mission. Others are involved in programs scheduled to take place on the lunar surface, making it illogical to propose them now for a low Earth orbit mission (which would exclude them from several future missions) like Artemis III.
It is highly probable (but not yet certain) that the Artemis IV mission, scheduled for early 2028 and to be the first with a lunar landing under this program, will include at least one female astronaut who is expected to set foot on the lunar surface. This is a significantly more important and historic moment compared to the test mission of Artemis III.
NASA and the Challenges of Artemis III
The NASA administrator also highlighted some challenges of the Artemis program. Despite skepticism and some new information revealed during the recent press conference, the NASA SLS (Space Launch System) will likely not be abandoned anytime soon. However, the agency aims to increase launch frequency and operational safety. This decision could be largely political (related to job losses for contractors like Boeing), though currently, the Space Launch System remains the only operational vehicle available compared to New Glenn and Starship, the former due to an explosion a few days ago, and the latter still in the prototype phase.
Isaacman noted that the lunar landers to be used for Artemis III will not be complete, as they won’t need to be. What will primarily matter is testing the docking and separation maneuvers and their maneuverability. Looking ahead, NASA intends to avoid relying on a single vehicle to deliver payloads or crews to the Moon, which will help reduce risks.
As explained during the press conference, the Blue Origin Blue Moon MK2 prototype, a model that may resemble the rumored Blue Moon MK1.5 with a lower portion featuring life support systems and a cockpit, along with a tank area derived from Blue Moon MK1, will be the only lander the astronauts will enter. The stay aboard will be for about two days, allowing for testing systems not present in other solutions, such as the Environmental Control and Life Support System (ECLSS) and avionics. This lander can remain in orbit for up to 90 days if necessary.
The Starship test will be different. SpaceX will use a V3 version of its heavy-lift vehicle and not the HLS (Human Landing System) version, and will feature a docking system for Orion but will not have internal systems. Thus, astronauts will not enter the lunar lander, and the operations will last only a day. This difference between Blue Origin and SpaceX can be explained by the fact that SpaceX already has ECLSS system experience with its Crew Dragon capsules, while Blue Origin has no capsules planned.
Starship, on the other hand, must demonstrate its capability to perform the docking with Orion and support the trans-lunar injection (TLI) maneuver, which will add mechanical stress on the negative X-axis. This situation has been hypothesized before but not actually experienced. This would also reduce the importance of NASA SLS, which would become less influential and usable with Blue Origin solutions (which do not have the same characteristics as Starship).
It should be noted that both lunar landers must be capable of performing an uncrewed lunar landing. Currently, discussions center on early 2028, shortly before the Artemis IV mission. The timeline is quite tight, and a postponement is entirely possible. Meanwhile, China seems to have publicly slowed its program, but landing by 2029 remains possible, considering that the Lanyue lander is less complex and has less mass than both Blue Moon MK2 and, especially, Starship HLS.