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Santa Monica High School doesn’t just send graduates out into the world — sometimes, it sends them out of it.
Randy “Komrade” Bresnik, a Samohi alum and retired Marine colonel, has been tapped by NASA to command Artemis III — one of the most ambitious American space missions since the Apollo era and a critical step toward putting humans back on the Moon.
NASA made the announcement Tuesday, handing the hometown hero the keys to a complex, high-stakes orbital test flight slated for 2027.
For Bresnik, Class of ’85, it’s a long way from the beach to the blackness of space — but a journey decades in the making.
“This is about the next giant leap,” NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said, calling Artemis III a proving ground for the systems that will eventually carry astronauts back to the lunar surface for the first time since 1972.
Bresnik will lead a four-person international crew on a roughly two-week mission. They won’t land on the Moon, but will test the intricate choreography needed to get there. Think multiple spacecraft, back-to-back launches, and high-wire docking maneuvers in orbit involving hardware from NASA, SpaceX, and Blue Origin.
“We are taking humanity and working to stop being a single planet species,” Bresnik said in an interview NBC Houston. “Like we did on Artemis II…this flight is essential to be able to have a moon landing next time.”
It’s the kind of mission insiders are already calling the most complex spaceflight operation ever attempted.
And Bresnik is up to the task.
After collecting his diploma, he headed to The Citadel, became a Marine aviator, flew combat missions in Iraq, and graduated top of his class at the Navy’s elite test pilot school.
He joined NASA in 2004.
Since then, he’s logged more than 3,600 hours in space, performed five spacewalks, and even commanded the International Space Station. On Earth, he’s trained underwater and underground — literally — to simulate deep-space extremes.
Artemis III will mark his third trip to space — and his biggest yet.
And here’s a fun fact: Bresnik isn’t the only Viking to slip past Earth’s bounds. Samohi has actually produced two NASA astronauts. Dr. Jonny Kim, a Navy SEAL-turned-physician who graduated in 2002 is also part of the Artemis program.
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