When the Artemis II splashed down off the coast of San Diego on April 10, its crewmembers were hailed as the farthest-traveled humans from Earth in history, having bested by more than 4,000 miles Apollo 13’s record.

Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen traveled 252,756 miles from their home planet and returned safely, rekindling the nation’s fascination with space exploration.

On Tuesday, NASA announced the names of the four astronauts – including a former Fort Carson soldier – who are charged with paving the way for the first Americans to walk on the moon’s surface in more than 50 years.

Army Col. Frank Rubio, a former Black Hawk pilot who served as a doctor with the 10^th Special Forces Group based at Fort Carson, joins commander Randy Bresnik, pilot Luca Parmitano and fellow mission specialist Andre Douglas on the Artemis III crew. The spacecraft is scheduled to launch from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida in 2027.

“I am deeply honored to be selected for Artemis III, a mission that continues to build upon the foundation for the day Americans return to the surface of the moon,” said Rubio, a 1998 graduate of the U.S. Military Academy.

Selected by NASA in 2017 as a member of Astronaut Class 22, Rubio is a veteran space traveler who holds the U.S. record for the longest single space flight, spending 371 days aboard the International Space Station from Sept. 2022 to Sept. 2023, according to his bio. During that flight, Rubio orbited the Earth 5,963 times and conducted three space walks.

Before his NASA selection, Rubio flew more than 1,100 hours as a UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter pilot, including more than 600 combat and imminent-danger hours during deployments to Afghanistan, Iraq and Bosnia.

After his aviation service, Rubio earned a medical degree from the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in 2010. He was stationed as a surgeon with the 3rd Battalion, 10th Special Forces Group (Airborne) at Fort Carson at the time of his astronaut selection.

“(Col. Rubio’s) selection is a testament to his leadership, physical and mental toughness, and technical capability,” said Lt. Gen. John Rafferty, commanding general of U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command. 

The Artemis III mission is the next step in NASA’s plan to put people back on the moon. It will orbit Earth, testing lunar landing spacecraft, extravehicular space suits and other critical systems in preparation for Artemis IV, which aims to land people on the moon as early as 2028.

Data compiled from the Artemis III flight could be instrumental in eventual missions to Mars, NASA officials said.

Rubio and the rest of the Artemis III crew will immediately begin training on Orion spacecraft systems, according to NASA.

“I am honored to represent the Army on the highest ground,” Rubio said.