Nasa names Artemis III crew, but a rocket explosion has thrown US Moon plans into turmoil

The Artemis III mission will involve launching the Orion spacecraft into low Earth orbit. Nasa/Esa/ATG Medialab

Nasa has named the crew of its next Artemis mission, which it promised would be an “extraordinary demonstration of what is possible”. Artemis is the ambitious American-led effort to return humans to the lunar surface by 2028.

However, the Artemis III mission will not travel to the Moon. Instead, the Orion spacecraft will stay in low Earth orbit and aim to dock with lunar landing vehicles launched separately by one or two space companies.