Chris Bergin

4 NASA has assigned the four astronauts who will fly the agency’s next crewed Space Launch System mission, an Earth-orbit test flight designed to evaluate one or both human-rated lunar landers before Artemis III. Commanding the mission will be NASA astronaut Randy Bresnik, with ESA astronaut Luca Parmitano serving as pilot. NASA astronauts Frank Rubio and Andre Douglas round out the crew as Mission Specialists 1 and 2, respectively.

1 Starship Flight 12 may have only recently concluded, but SpaceX’s Starbase teams are already deep into preparations for the next integrated flight test. The latest milestone involves the rollout of Booster 20 (B20), the Super Heavy booster assigned to Flight 13, as it moved from Megabay 1 to Massey’s test site and has begun cryogenic proof testing campaign. The booster was lifted onto the cryogenic test stand and transported via SPMTs to the test area, where it joined existing test articles.

1 The Exploration Company (TEC), developing the reusable Nyx spacecraft, has taken a significant step forward in its recovery system development. The company completed a dedicated drop test of the Nyx parachute system in the Mojave Desert, California, validating the critical transition from drogue to main parachutes.