NASA Picks Artemis III Crew For Mission Featuring SpaceX Moon Lander Tests

• The four-member crew will conduct rendezvous and docking demonstrations between Orion and commercial lunar landing systems in Earth orbit.
• The mission is designed to validate hardware, software, propulsion and communications systems needed for future lunar surface missions.
• Though the NASA ETF was trading lower at the time of writing, retail investors remained bullish, with some expecting it to recover at double the pace of its current decline.

NASA provided new details on Tuesday about its Artemis III mission and announced the four prime crew members who will fly to space as soon as next year to test Moon landers being developed by SpaceX and Blue Origin.

The mission will conduct a series of critical tests in Earth orbit in 2027, paving the way for Artemis IV, NASA’s first planned crewed mission to the Moon’s south pole in 2028.

The Tema Space Innovators ETF (NASA) was trading lower at the time of writing, though retail investors remained bullish, with many viewing the pullback as a buying opportunity.

While the announcement highlighted progress in NASA’s lunar ambitions, the Tema Space Innovators ETF (NASA) was trading around 5% lower at the time of writing. Retail investors, however, remained bullish, with some viewing the pullback as a buying opportunity and expecting it to recover at double the pace of its current decline.

The Artemis III Crew

NASA astronauts Andre Douglas and Frank Rubio will serve as mission specialists on Artemis III. They will be joined by astronaut Luca Parmitano as pilot and NASA astronaut Randy Bresnik as commander. The mission is currently targeted for launch as early as 2027.

The mission will launch aboard NASA's Space Launch System (SLS) rocket from Kennedy Space Center in Florida, carrying the Orion spacecraft and its crew into low Earth orbit. Once in orbit, Orion will perform its first rendezvous and docking tests with prototype lunar landing systems being developed by SpaceX and Blue Origin.

Artemis III will not travel to the Moon. Instead, the crew will spend about two weeks in Earth orbit conducting tests designed to validate the landing systems that could carry astronauts to the lunar surface later this decade.

SpaceX is developing a crewed lunar version of its Starship spacecraft, while Blue Origin is building a crewed variant of its Blue Moon lander. Both companies are preparing test vehicles for use during the Artemis III mission.

What Retail Traders Feel About SPACZZX, NASA

On Stocktwits, sentiment around SPACZZX was ‘extremely bullish,’ while sentiment for the Tema Space Innovators ETF was ‘bearish’ at the time of writing, with message volume being ‘normal.’

Despite the bearish sentiment for Tema Space Innovators ETF, few traders remained optimistic on its prospects.

One user said, “Hold this, no brainer. This will recover at the double speed than its going down.”

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