KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. – NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said the United States is on pace to return astronauts to the lunar surface before China gets there.
“The Chinese are moving at incredible speeds, and they are certainly capable of doing what the Soviets were not during the first space race. The Chinese will land their Tikonnauts on the moon. There’s no question. The question is, will the United States return before? And will we do so in a different way this time? Will we build the base, establish that enduring presence? I think the answer is yes.”
Isaacman laid out the agency’s timeline over the weekend on CBS’s “Face the Nation”, offering a detailed look at how NASA plans to pull off a 2028 moon landing through its Artemis program.
“This is an achievable plan to put astronauts back on the surface of the moon,” Isaacman said.
Meet the Artemis III crew
NASA has named veteran astronaut Randy Bresnik to command Artemis III. He’ll fly alongside mission specialists Frank Rubio and Andre Douglas, and Italian astronaut Luca Parmitano of the European Space Agency, who will serve as pilot.
Bresnik captured the weight of the moment at the crew announcement.
“While it may look like a baton that’s now in my hand, it feels like a big Olympic torch,” Bresnik said.
What Artemis III will actually do
Despite its name and connection to the broader lunar program, Artemis III will not land on the moon. Instead, the crew will orbit Earth inside the Orion spacecraft at roughly 300 miles up — with a specific and critical objective: practice docking with lunar landers from Blue Origin and SpaceX.
Think of it as a dress rehearsal. Isaacman compared it to NASA’s Apollo 9 mission, which tested the lunar module in Earth orbit before Apollo 11 ever left for the moon.
“You’re going to see the three most powerful rockets in the world — NASA’s SLS, SpaceX’s Starship, Blue Origin’s New Glenn — and then you’re going to have the landers come together in Earth orbit, test out their capabilities, very à la Apollo 9,” Isaacman said. “Give us the confidence in our landers for Artemis 4 in 2028.”
Rocket explosion not expected to derail timeline
Isaacman also addressed the May explosion of Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket at Cape Canaveral during a static fire test. He said the incident is not expected to delay Artemis III.
Isaacman said he was on-site the morning after the explosion alongside Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos and CEO Dave Limp.
“We’ve helped provide subject matter experts to Blue Origin. We’re helping with the anomaly investigation on the rocket. We’re helping with the rebuild,” Isaacman said.
Artemis III is scheduled to launch from Kennedy Space Center at the end of next year.