In late February, however, NASA chief Jared Isaacman announced a big change to the Artemis architecture: Artemis 3 will test rendezvous and docking operations in Earth orbit between NASA's Orion crew capsule and one or both of the program's crewed lunar landers — SpaceX's Starship and Blue Origin's Blue Moon.

NASA's Artemis III crew has been revealed. The astronauts will launch into low Earth orbit next year to test docking with commercial lunar landers being developed by SpaceX and Blue Origin.

NASA reveals Artemis III crew for 2025 orbital docking tests of SpaceX Starship and Blue Origin Blue Moon—key milestone for lunar contracts.

Add Yahoo as a preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. The Artemis II journey around the far side of the moon is a monumental moment for human space exploration, but the mission could also bring back benefits for everyday life here on Earth.

The space agency described the moon base as a sprawling city-like lunar outpost stretching over hundreds of square miles.

NASA is moving forward with a major modernization effort at Johnson Space Center, awarding contracts to seven companies that will help upgrade aging facilities and infrastructure at the Houston campus that has served as the center of America’s human spaceflight program for more than six decades.