Live updates as NASA names the crew for Artemis III, the mission set to return astronauts to the surface of the Moon.
NASA has formally named the four prime crew members, plus a backup, for the Artemis III test flight — the mission intended to land astronauts near the lunar south pole.
Alongside the four prime astronauts, NASA has confirmed a backup crew member who will train to the same standard in case of a late change.
The landing region was chosen for its permanently shadowed craters, which are believed to hold water ice — a potential resource for future long-duration missions.
Officials walked through the flight plan: launch on the Space Launch System, transfer to lunar orbit, and a crewed descent using the human landing system.
Artemis III combines a super-heavy-lift launch, an in-space rendezvous, and a crewed lunar landing — a sequence not attempted together since the Apollo era.
The crew will begin an intensive training programme covering the lander, spacesuits and surface operations ahead of the flight.
Naming the crew turns an abstract programme into something human. This is the moment the public starts to follow these astronauts by name.
Engineers showed the next-generation suit designed for greater flexibility and to withstand the extreme cold of the shadowed polar terrain.
NASA leadership has taken the stage at the agency's news conference to begin the announcement.
Welcome to our live coverage of NASA's Artemis III crew announcement. The briefing is about to begin.