Europe Stakes Its Moon Bid as Parmitano Becomes Artemis 3 Pilot
NASA named Italian astronaut Luca Parmitano as Artemis 3's pilot—the first European assigned to an Artemis crew—while ESA framed the seat as leverage to secure a European on the Moon rather than a symbolic orbit, as Gateway’s fate shifts Europe’s lunar plan; Artemis 3 will test docking with prototype landers from Blue Origin and SpaceX and will not land, with Europe offering the European Service Module plus potential surface assets like Argonaut and Moonlight in a bid to secure a future boots-on-the-Moon mission ahead of a Paris ministerial decision.
