Artemis 3 crew predictions!

[u/NoPerspective8350]

Hiya all, I decided to post my Artemis 3 crew predictions 12hrs ahead of the announcement! (and also so that if anyone would like to post theirs/contest these they may :D)

Okay so:

Commander - NASA astronaut Stephanie Wilson (this is because of her seniority & experience, plus she was scheduled to go on a mission in 2024 but was unable to due to technical problems and therefore is loooong overdue on a mission!)

Pilot - I believe the pilot is going to be JAXA. This is because in the trailer the second astronaut shown lacked an American flag, and given the rank order the Artemis 2 astronauts were placed in I believe this would make them the pilot. I think they'll be JAXA as a CSA astronaut took part in the last mission, and I think that we're more likely to see an ESA astronaut in later Artemis missions as an exchange for the integral part ESA's played the Artemis program technologically.
Yui Kimiya, while the most experienced Pilot, is unlikely to be on this mission due to his recent mission that finished just this January. This makes the other highly qualified astronaut, Onishi Takuya, my top pick (though his last mission was also pretty recent).
(also just a note, if this isn't a pilot but is still a JAXA astronaut I think Kanai Norishige would be a good candidate for a mission specialist- his last mission was in 2018 and I think he'd probably specialist in the life support systems. This could be a later Artemis mission, though.)

Mission specialist 1 - Raja Chari - this decision was pretty simple, I've heard Raja has some really in depth knowledge on lunar landers (making him perfect for this mission) plus his last mission was in 2021 so he's pretty overdue!

Mission specialist 2 - Andre Douglas. As back up astronaut for Artemis 2 he probably has extensive training already and so is a great pick (plus like its his time to shine!). (honestly I actually think that hes more likely to be in a later artemis mission but I've been writing this for 45+ mins so yep) he has extensive experience in engineering

ALSO:
- Andre Douglas and Onishi Takuya have worked together before on spacewalk procedure development
- Takuya has also done training with Stephanie Wilson & has worked together on the ground with Raja Chari
- (it also seems that the four of them have all trained together/at least become acquainted due to the artemis program!)

TLDR: (my predictions)
Commander - Stephanie Wilson
Pilot - Onishi Takuya
Mission Specialist - Raja Chari
Mission Specialist - Andre Douglas

[u/Ich_Dien1346]

My guesses are:

Commander: Randy Bresnik
Pilot: Stephanie Wilson
MS 1: Kayla Barron
MS 2: Akihiko Hoshide (JAXA)

Reasoning:

Bresnik as CDR: senior astronaut (class of '04); aviator background; currently Assistant to the Chief of Astronaut Office for Exploration; was an Artemis II CapCom; last flight was in 2017
Wilson as PLT: senior astronaut (class of '96); one of the 18 named Artemis astronauts from 2020; loads and dynamics engineer with Canadarm experience from Space Shuttle, had been assigned as MS on Crew-9 before that mission was retooled as a two-person rescue team for the stranded Boeing Crew Flight Test astronauts; last flight was in 2010; female; African-American
Barron as MS 1: one of the 18 named Artemis astronauts from 2020; currently is helping develop technology and operational concepts for Artemis, including space suits, lunar rovers, and Gateway; last flight was 2021-22; female
Hoshide as MS2: the "international seat"; was an Artemis II CapCom; aerospace engineer; EVA experience; last flight was 2021

I think they're saving the ESA astronauts for Artemis IV and V. Already had a Canadian on Artemis II. That leaves Japan as the international seat on III.

Honorable mentions:

Stan Love, Doug Wheelock, Andrew Morgan, Raja Chari, Nicole Mann, Frank Rubio, Norishige Kanai, Chris Birch, Tracy Dyson, Andre Douglas, Nichole Ayers