Isaacman Responds to Criticism of All-Male Artemis III Crew

On social media today, NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman defended yesterday’s selection of four men for the Artemis III crew even though almost half of the astronaut corps is female. Stressing the process does not involve any political appointees, he asked that those who were chosen — three from NASA and one from the European Space Agency — be celebrated just as future crews will be.

NASA’s Randy Bresnik, Frank Rubio and Andre Douglas and ESA’s Luca Parmitano were introduced at an event at Johnson Space Center yesterday as the crew of the next Artemis mission, Artemis III.

Scheduled for launch in 2027, Artemis III is the next mission in NASA’s plan to return U.S. astronauts to the lunar surface for sustained lunar exploration together with international and commercial partners.

They are following Artemis II, which flew around the Moon in April with a crew of three men and one woman: NASA’s Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch and the Canadian Space Agency’s Jeremy Hansen.

Artemis III won’t go to the Moon.  Their assignment keeps them in earth orbit to conduct rendezvous and docking tests with pathfinder versions of the landing systems needed to put astronauts back on the lunar surface in 2028.

The crew members have impressive qualifications. Bresnik and Parmitano have two spaceflights each and Rubio holds the record for the longest continuous mission duration for any U.S. astronaut. Douglas is a rookie, but was a backup crew member for Artemis II so has extensive knowledge of the Orion spacecraft that they’ll operate for the docking tests and live in for about two weeks. All have military backgrounds.

But even though 15 of the 37 active members of NASA’s astronaut corps are female, this crew is all male. One critic on social media called it “an insane choice,” while another said it was a “huge blow to those who were inspired” by Koch’s presence on Artemis II, but later added that “it doesn’t mean you can’t be happy” for the crew that was selected.

That also was Isaacman’s message — celebrate the four who were chosen. He responded on X (@NASAAdmin) to “reactions ranging from disappointment to outrage,” pointing out that no political appointees were involved in the selection process and he himself included two women on each of the private astronaut missions he financed and flew in 2021 and 2024 before becoming NASA Administrator.

More NASA astronauts will fly on future Artemis missions as well as to the International Space Station. The ISS flights are for roughly 6 months, not just 2 weeks. Jessica Meir is commander of Crew-12 right now and Jessica Watkins will command Crew-13 later this year.

The Artemis III crew members were chosen because they have the skills and experience to execute that specific mission’s tasks, Isaacman said, and the same will be true for future crews.

“The Artemis III astronauts are experienced, qualified, and deserve to be celebrated for the mission they have been assigned, just as the crews that follow will be celebrated when their time comes. We have an extraordinary astronaut corps, and every mission and every crew is part of a larger campaign to get America back to the Moon and to build the future we all dreamed about as children.” — Jared Isaacman