posted 08-28-2013 12:04 PM               

The ISS will host up to nine persons for a while – a record that has not been broken since retirement of the Space Shuttle in 2011.

posted 09-07-2013 05:51 PM               

Spokeswoman Irina Rogova said: "Now we are urgently looking for a new commander."

posted 09-30-2013 12:51 PM               

NASA, Space Station Partners Announce Future Crew Members

NASA and its international partners have appointed future crew members for the International Space Station.

NASA astronaut Tim Kopra and European Space Agency astronaut Tim Peake are scheduled to launch in December 2015 and return to Earth in spring 2016. They will join the Expedition 45 crew members in orbit and will remain aboard as part of Expedition 46 with yearlong expedition Commander Scott Kelly and Flight Engineer Mikhail Kornienko.

This will be the second long-duration spaceflight for Kopra, a former U.S. Army helicopter pilot and graduate of the U.S. Military Academy. Kopra was a flight engineer aboard the station during Expedition 20 in 2009. This will be the first spaceflight for Peake, a former British Army helicopter pilot and graduate of the Royal Military Academy.

The Expedition 45 crew will be:

• NASA astronaut Scott Kelly, station commander
  
• Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko, flight engineer
  
• NASA astronaut Tim Kopra, flight engineer
  
• ESA astronaut Tim Peake, flight engineer

posted 11-29-2013 12:02 AM               

Astronaut Takuya Onishi Selected as Member of ISS Expedition Crew

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) would like to announce that Astronaut Takuya Onishi has been selected as a crewmember for the 48th/49th Expedition Mission to the International Space Station (ISS).

Astronaut Onishi was selected as an astronaut candidate in February 2009, and then, certified as an ISS astronaut in July 2011 after completion of all basic training requirements. Since then, he has been continuously maintaining and improving his qualities as an ISS astronaut through various training such as the 15th NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations (NEEMO 15) conducted at the underwater laboratory in the United States.

For Astronaut Onishi, this long duration stay aboard the ISS will be his first space flight.

posted 02-11-2014 10:33 AM               

NASA, International Space Station Partners Announce Future Crew Members

NASA and its international partners have appointed crew members for a 2016 mission to the International Space Station.

NASA astronaut Jeff Williams is scheduled to launch in spring 2016 and return to Earth in fall 2016. He will join space station Expedition 47 crew members in orbit and will remain aboard as part of Expedition 48 with cosmonauts Alexey Ovchinin and Oleg Skripochka of the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos). Williams will assume command of the orbiting outpost upon the departure of Expedition 47's commander, Sergei Zaletin of Roscosmos.

This will be the fourth spaceflight and third long-duration mission for Williams, a former U.S. Army helicopter pilot and graduate of the U.S. Military Academy. Williams was a flight engineer aboard the station during Expedition 13 in 2006. He later served as a flight engineer during Expedition 21 and commander of Expedition 22 in 2010.

This will be the first flight for Ovchinin, a former Russian Air Force pilot and graduate of the Eisk Air Force Pilot School. Ovchinin has been a cosmonaut since 2009.

This will be the second long-duration flight for Skripochka, who served as a flight engineer during Expeditions 25 and 26 in 2010 and 2011. The former mechanical engineer has been a cosmonaut since 1999.

The crew for Expedition 47 will be:

• Tim Kopra, NASA
  
• Sergei Zaletin, Roscosmos
  
• Tim Peake, European Space Agency

The crew of Expedition 48 will be:

• Jeff Williams, NASA
  
• Alexey Ovchinin, Roscosmos
  
• Oleg Skripochka, Roscosmos

posted 03-17-2014 07:00 AM               

ESA astronaut Thomas Pesquet will fly to the International Space Station in 2016

European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Thomas Pesquet has been assigned to a long-duration mission on the International Space Station, it was announced today (March 17).

The assignment of the French-born astronaut was announced by ESA's Director General Jean Jacques Dordain in the presence of the French Minister for Higher Education and Research, Geneviève Fioraso, and the President of the French space agency, CNES, Jean-Yves Le Gall.

The announcement was made in coordination with the international partners of the International Space Station.

With Thomas Pesquet's assignment, all six ESA astronauts from the class of 2009 will have flown to the Station on missions within seven years of graduation.

The Director General noted: "Thomas' mission assignment concludes the first phase for our newest members of the ESA astronaut corps which was to make each of them assigned to a spaceflight.

"This is a clear demonstration of the reputation of ESA among the international partners of ISS as well as of ESA astronauts among the international community of astronauts. The flight experience gained by this new class of ESA astronauts is providing a solid ground for ESA Member States to contribute to further international human exploration missions."

Born in Rouen, France, Thomas will be the 10th Frenchman to go to space, following Léopold Eyharts who supported the commissioning and first utilisation of ESA's Columbus microgravity laboratory on the Space Station.

As a partner in the Station, ESA is entitled to use its resources, which include supporting missions of European astronauts.

During Thomas' mission, an atomic clock will be installed on the Station to connect with other atomic clocks on Earth to test Einstein's theory of relativity and allow even more accurate world timekeeping. The results could double the accuracy of satellite navigation, allowing us to pinpoint our location on Earth with even higher precision.

Thomas studied as an aerospace engineer before working as a commercial airline pilot.

ESA's Director of Human Spaceflight and Operations and former astronaut, Thomas Reiter, says: "I remember this exciting moment of mission assignment very well, and I'm very happy that Thomas Pesquet is now in this situation.

"There is an exciting road ahead for Thomas, learning all the systems of the International Space Station and the unique scientific experiments that he will conduct in space."

Thomas comments on his assignment: "I am happy to have been selected for a mission but this is just the start of a new phase for me – there is a lot of work to do and a lot to learn before my flight.

"I will consider my dream complete when I am working on the International Space Station."

posted 02-09-2015 11:28 AM               

NASA, Space Station Partners Announce Future Mission Crew Members

NASA and its International Space Station partners have announced the crew members, including NASA astronauts Kate Rubins, Shane Kimbrough and Peggy Whitson, for three upcoming missions to the space station.

Rubins will be the first of the three with her mission beginning in May 2016, when she will join the station’s Expedition 48 crew already in orbit. Selected to become an astronaut in 2009, this will be her first trip into space. Rubins was born in Farmington, Connecticut, and grew up in Napa, California. She holds a doctorate in cancer biology from Stanford.

Kimbrough, born in Killeen, Texas, and raised in Atlanta, is a retired U.S. Army colonel. He previously flew aboard space shuttle Endeavour during its STS-126 mission in 2008. Kimbrough has spent almost 16 days in space and accumulated 12 hours and 52 minutes on spacewalks.

Whitson, an Iowa native born in Mt. Ayr and raised in Beaconsfield, holds a doctorate in biochemistry from Rice University. She completed two six-month tours of duty aboard the space station, the second as its first female commander. She has spent 377 days in space between the two missions. Whitson also has performed six spacewalks, totaling 39 hours and 46 minutes.

The crew comprising Expedition 48 will be:

• Jeff Williams, NASA
  
• Alexey Ovchinin, Roscosmos
  
• Oleg Skripochka, Roscosmos
  
• Kate Rubins, NASA
  
• Anatoly Ivanishin, Roscosmos
  
• Takuya Onishi, JAXA

The crew comprising Expedition 49 will be:

• Anatoly Ivanishin, Roscosmos
  
• Kate Rubins, NASA
  
• Takuya Onishi, JAXA
  
• Shane Kimbrough, NASA
  
• Andrey Borisenko, Roscosmos
  
• Sergey Ryzhikov, Roscosmos

The crew comprising Expedition 50 will be:

• Shane Kimbrough, NASA
  
• Andrey Borisenko, Roscosmos
  
• Sergey Ryzhikov, Roscosmos
  
• Peggy Whitson, NASA
  
• Oleg Novitskiy, Roscosmos
  
• Thomas Pesquet, ESA

posted 07-30-2015 11:42 AM               

Third spaceflight for astronaut Paolo Nespoli

ESA astronaut Paolo Nespoli will be heading for space a third time, as part of Expeditions 52 and 53 to the International Space Station. He will be launched on a Soyuz vehicle in May 2017 on a five-month mission.

The new mission is part of a barter agreement between NASA and Italy's ASI space agency involving ESA astronauts. It will be ASI's third long-duration flight, following Luca Parmitano's Volare in 2013 and Samantha Cristoforetti's Futura this year.

Paolo's first spaceflight was his two-week Esperia mission on the space shuttle's STS-120 in 2007, ASI's second short-duration flight under the barter agreement. One of his main tasks was to help install the Node-2 module on the Space Station.

He returned to the station in 2010 for ESA's 160-day MagISStra mission as part of Expeditions 26 and 27. In addition to his many experiments, he was involved in the dockings of two cargo craft: Europe's second Automated Transfer Vehicle and Japan's second HII Transfer Vehicle.

Following his second flight, Paolo worked at ESA's ESRIN center in Italy and at the European Astronaut Center in Cologne. He recently began training at the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center near Moscow, Russia, for his new adventure.

posted 08-06-2015 03:11 PM               

NASA, Space Station Partners Announce Crew Members for Missions in 2017

NASA and its International Space Station partners have announced the crew members for missions to the orbiting laboratory in 2017. The selection includes first-time space flyers NASA astronauts Mark Vande Hei and Jack Fischer.

The Expedition 51 and 52 crews will continue important research that advances NASA's journey to Mars while making discoveries that can benefit all of humanity. With adequate funding and technical progress on NASA's Commercial Crew Program, astronauts Vande Hei and Fischer are expected to be at the station during the first test flights of the Boeing CST-100 and SpaceX's Crew Dragon spacecraft, targeted for 2017.

"Spaceflight assignment is one of the highlights of my job, and this is made even more special when that person has not yet flown in space," said Chris Cassidy, chief of the Astronaut Office at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston. "I'm very excited for both Mark and Jack and very much look forward to watching them on the ISS."

Both Vande Hei and Fischer are members of NASA's 2009 Astronaut Class. Vande Hei will be the first to fly, when he and Roscosmos cosmonauts Alexander Misurkin and Nikolai Tikhonov, also a first-time flyer, launch in March 2017. The three will join the station's Expedition 51 crew of NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson, ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Thomas Pesquet, and cosmonaut Oleg Novitskiy of Roscosmos.

Vande Hei, a colonel in the U.S. Army, hails from Falls Church, Virginia. His Army service includes a tour in Iraq during Operation Provide Comfort and, later, Operation Iraqi Freedom, during which he led an Army space support team. He is a graduate of the Army's Airborne School, Ranger School, Engineer Officer Advanced Course, and Command and General Staff College.

Vande Hei joined NASA in July 2006 to serve as a Capsule Communicator (CAPCOM) at the Mission Control Center at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston. He was selected as an astronaut candidate three years later and, after completing his initial astronaut training in July 2011, went on to serve as the Astronaut Office's director of operations in Russia. Following his return, he resumed work in the Astronaut Office's CAPCOM Branch until his mission assignment. He earned a bachelor's degree in physics from St. John's University in Collegeville, Minnesota, in 1989, and a master's degree in applied physics from Stanford University in Palo Alto, California, in 1999.

Fischer's mission will begin in May 2017, when he and his crewmates Fyodor Yurchikin of Roscosmos and Paolo Nespoli of ESA will join Vande Hei, Misurkin and Tikhonov on the station for Expedition 52.

Fischer, hailing from Louisville, Colorado, is a colonel in the U.S. Air Force. Fischer served two combat tours in Southwest Asia, flying the F-15E Strike Eagle during Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Southern Watch. He then became a test pilot, flying more than 50 different types of aircraft, including all types of the F-15 and F-22 Raptor. After two test assignments, Fischer served as an Air Force Fellow in Washington, with rotations serving under the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics.

After finishing his astronaut candidate training in July 2011, Fischer also served as a CAPCOM in mission control. Additionally, he performed technical roles supporting Soyuz and space station operations. He most recently served on the Astronaut Office's Exploration team working on the next generation of human space exploration vehicles, NASA's Space Launch System rocket, Orion spacecraft, and Commercial Crew Program. Fischer graduated from the U.S. Air Force Academy in 1996 with a bachelor's degree in astronautical engineering, and earned a master's degree in aeronautics and astronautics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge in 1998.

The crew comprising Expedition 51 will be:

• Peggy Whitson, NASA
  
• Oleg Novitskiy, Roscosmos
  
• Thomas Pesquet, ESA
  
• Mark Vande Hei, NASA
  
• Alexander Misurkin, Roscosmos
  
• Nikolai Tikhonov, Roscosmos

The crew comprising Expedition 52 will be:

• Mark Vande Hei, NASA
  
• Alexander Misurkin, Roscosmos
  
• Nikolai Tikhonov, Roscosmos
  
• Jack Fischer, NASA
  
• Paolo Nespoli, ESA
  
• Fyodor Yurchikin, Roscosmos

The space station is a convergence of science, technology and human innovation that enables us to demonstrate new technologies and make research breakthroughs not possible on Earth. It has been continuously occupied since November 2000 and, since then, has been visited by more than 200 people and a variety of international and commercial spacecraft. The space station remains the springboard to NASA's next giant leap in exploration, including future missions to an asteroid and Mars.

posted 08-26-2015 01:31 PM            

Astronaut Norishige Kanai Selected as Member of ISS Expedition Crew

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) selected Astronaut Norishige Kanai as a crewmember for the 54th/55th Expedition Mission to the International Space Station (ISS).

Astronaut Kanai was selected as an astronaut candidate in September 2009, and then, certified as an ISS astronaut in July 2011 after completion of all basic training requirements.

Since then, he has been continuously maintaining and improving his qualities as an ISS astronaut through various training such as the NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations (NEEMO) conducted at the underwater laboratory in the United States.

For Astronaut Kanai, this long duration stay aboard the ISS will be his first space flight.

posted 05-06-2016 10:24 AM               

NASA, Space Station Partners Announce Future Mission Crew Members

NASA and its International Space Station partners have announced the crew members for missions to the orbiting laboratory in 2017. The selection includes first-time space flyer NASA astronaut Scott Tingle and veteran Randy Bresnik.

"There's so much going on aboard the space station at this point, so many science experiments and technology demonstrations," said Chris Cassidy, chief of the Astronaut Office at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston. "Scott and Randy have their work cut out for them, but I have no doubt they'll do excellent jobs."

Tingle is a member of NASA's 2009 astronaut class and will fly with cosmonauts Ivan Vagner, who is also a first-time flier, and veteran Alexander Skvortsov, both of the Russian space agency Roscosmos. They will launch in September 2017. The three will join the station's Expedition 53 crew of NASA astronaut Jack Fischer, ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Paolo Nespoli and Roscosmos cosmonaut Fyodor Yurchikhin.

Tingle, a captain in the U.S. Navy, was born in Attleboro, Massachusetts, but considers Randolph, Massachusetts, his home. He was commissioned as a naval officer in 1991 and earned the gold wings of a naval aviator in 1993. He has accumulated more than 4,000 hours in 48 types of aircraft, 700 carrier landings and 54 combat missions.

Tingle earned a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from Southern Massachusetts University in Dartmouth in 1987, and a master's degree in mechanical engineering, with a specialty in fluid mechanics and propulsion, from Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana, in 1988. He also is a 1998 graduate of the Navy Test Pilot School.

Bresnik's mission will begin in November 2017, when he and his crewmates Sergey Ryazansky of Roscosmos and Norishige Kanai of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) will join Tingle, Skvortsov and Vagner on the station for Expedition 54.

Bresnik, who considers Santa Monica, California, to be his hometown, is a retired colonel in the U.S. Marine Corps. Bresnik received his commission in May 1989 and was designated a Marine Corps aviator in 1992. He flew the F/A-18 Hornet in support of Operation Southern Watch and Operation Iraqi Freedom. He has accumulated more than 6,000 hours in 81 types of aircraft.

Bresnik was selected as an astronaut in May 2004. His first spaceflight was in November 2009 aboard space shuttle Atlantis for STS-129, which lasted 11 days. The flight was the 31st shuttle flight to the space station, during which Bresnik conducted two spacewalks totaling 11 hours and 50 minutes.

Bresnik graduated from The Citadel in Charleston, South Carolina, in 1989 with a bachelor's degree in mathematics, and earned a master's degree in aviation systems from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, in 2002. He is also a 2008 graduate of the U.S. Air Force Air War College.

The crew comprising Expedition 53 will be:

• Jack Fischer, NASA
  
• Paolo Nespoli, ESA
  
• Fyodor Yurchikin, Roscosmos
  
• Scott Tingle, NASA
  
• Alexander Skvortsov, Roscosmos
  
• Ivan Vagner, Roscosmos

The crew comprising Expedition 54 will be:

• Scott Tingle, NASA
  
• Alexander Skvortsov, Roscosmos
  
• Ivan Vagner, Roscosmos
  
• Randy Bresnik, NASA
  
• Sergey Ryazansky, Roscosmos
  
• Norishige Kanai, JAXA

posted 05-16-2016 11:01 AM               

David Saint-Jacques is the Next Canadian to Fly to the International Space Station

Today the Honourable Navdeep Bains, Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development, and the Minister responsible for the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), announced that Canadian astronaut David Saint-Jacques has been assigned to a six-month mission aboard the International Space Station (ISS).

Mr. Saint-Jacques will launch aboard a Russian Soyuz rocket in November 2018 to join an international crew onboard the orbiting laboratory. Expedition 58/59 will be the first mission for David Saint-Jacques and will mark the 17th space flight for the Canadian Astronaut Corps.

During his time in space, the astronaut will conduct a series of scientific experiments, robotics tasks and technology demonstrations, the details of which will be revealed later this year.

In addition to his extensive training, the Quebec native will bring his expertise in medicine, engineering and astrophysics to the Expedition 58/59 crew. In anticipation of this first assignment, David Saint-Jacques will begin specialized mission training in Russia, Japan, the United States and Canada starting this Summer and for the next two years until his launch.

"Today, I stand on the shoulders of all the astronauts who came before me," said Saint-Jacques. "They inspired me—they were my role models. They sparked my curiosity about space and made me want to experience spaceflight for myself. Space exploration is the next step for humanity, and I am proud to be part of it. I would like to thank the Canadian Space Agency for giving me this incredible opportunity. I am humbled to represent Canada on this mission and promise to give it my very best."

posted 05-18-2016 12:47 PM               

Alexander Gerst to be Space Station commander

ESA astronaut Alexander Gerst has been assigned a new mission to the International Space Station, where he will fulfill the role of commander during the second part of his six-month mission in 2018.

The news was announced today in the presence of German Chancellor Angela Merkel by ESA Director General Jan Woerner at the European Astronaut Centre in Cologne, Germany.

Alexander worked on the Station for six months on his Blue Dot mission in 2014. The German astronaut commented:

"I am humbled by receiving the honor to command the International Space Station. This international sign of trust reflects ESA's reliability as a cooperation partner, and was made possible by the fantastic work of my European colleagues on their previous missions. I am delighted by the prospect of continuing the scientific work that has been conducted on the ISS for many years. I am particularly looking forward to contributing to one of humanity's greatest exploration adventures: discovering new horizons.

Eleven European countries participate in the Station through ESA together with USA, Russia, Japan and Canada. ESA astronaut Tim Peake is currently working on the Station, to be followed by Thomas Pesquet in November.

Alexander's mission will continue the program of research that often spans multiple missions. His second flight will likely see Alexander working with ESA's Mares muscle measurement machine, researching plasma crystals in weightlessness, and testing new technologies to support ESA's human exploration program, in addition to the experiments of Station partners.

This is the second time a European astronaut will be commander of the Station in the 15 years it has been occupied – the first was Frank De Winne in 2009. Now heading the European Astronaut Centre, Frank noted, "Alexander showed outstanding performance, high professionalism and excellent interaction skills during his Blue Dot mission.

"For these reasons, the European Astronaut Centre proposed to the international partners that Alexander be the commander of the Space Station."

Alexander's second mission will run from May to November 2018 as part of Expeditions 56 and 57. He will be commander during the second part of his stay, during Expedition 57.

Alexander joined the ESA astronaut corps in 2009 and was assigned his first mission in 2011. He was awarded Germany's Order of Merit on return from his 166 days in space in 2014.

posted 01-04-2017 10:58 AM               

NASA Assigns Upcoming Space Station Crew Members

NASA is assigning veteran astronaut Andrew Feustel and first-flight astronaut Jeanette Epps to missions aboard the International Space Station in 2018.

Feustel will launch in March 2018 for his first long-duration mission, serving as a flight engineer on Expedition 55, and later as commander of Expedition 56. Epps will become the first African American space station crew member when she launches on her first spaceflight in May 2018. She'll join Feustel as a flight engineer on Expedition 56, and remain on board for Expedition 57.

"Each space station crew brings something different to the table, and Drew and Jeanette both have a lot to offer," said Chris Cassidy, chief of the Astronaut Office at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston. "The space station will benefit from having them on board."

A native of Lake Orion, Michigan, Feustel was selected as part of the 2000 astronaut class and, in 2009, flew on the space shuttle Atlantis for the final servicing mission of NASA's Hubble Space Telescope. He made his first trip to the space station in 2011 as a member of the STS-134 crew on space shuttle Endeavour's final mission.

Feustel has a bachelor's degree in solid Earth sciences and a master's degree in geophysics from Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana. In 1995, he completed his doctorate in geological sciences, with a specialization in seismology, from Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario, Canada.

Epps earned a bachelor's degree in physics in 1992 at LeMoyne College in her hometown of Syracuse, New York. She went on to complete a master's of science in 1994 and a doctorate in 2000 in aerospace engineering from the University of Maryland.

While earning her doctorate, Epps was a NASA Graduate Student Researchers Project fellow, authoring several journal and conference articles on her research. After completing graduate school, she went on to work in a research laboratory for more than two years, co-authoring several patents, before being recruited by the Central Intelligence Agency. She spent seven years as a CIA technical intelligence officer before being selected as a member of the 2009 astronaut class.

Feustel and Epps will join a long and distinguished line of astronauts who have crewed the International Space Station since November 2000.

posted 03-28-2017 03:45 PM               

NASA Announces Upcoming International Space Station Crew Assignments

Five NASA astronauts have been assigned to upcoming spaceflights. Joe Acaba, Ricky Arnold, Nick Hague, Serena Auñón-Chancellor and Shannon Walker all have begun training for missions launching later this year and throughout 2018.

Acaba will be the first to launch, assigned to the Expedition 53 and 54 crews that already include Mark Vande Hei of NASA, and Alexander Misurkin of the Russian space agency Roscosmos. They will launch aboard a Soyuz spacecraft in September. Walker will train as a dedicated backup for Acaba.

Arnold will join NASA's Drew Feustel and a Russian cosmonaut for Expeditions 55 and 56 to launch in March 2018. Arnold and Acaba's assignments were enabled by the recent agreement to add additional crew members in 2017 and 2018 to boost space station science and research.

First-time fliers Hague and Auñón-Chancellor will fall into the standard rotation for NASA astronauts. Hague will launch in September 2018 on Expeditions 57 and 58 with two Russian cosmonauts. Auñón-Chancellor will join the Expedition 58 and 59 crews in November 2018, along with Canadian Space Agency astronaut David Saint-Jacques and a Russian cosmonaut.

"It's great to get to announce so many assignments at once," said Chris Cassidy, chief of the Astronaut Office at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston. "There's plenty of work to be done at the space station, and the research opportunities are almost limitless. These folks are all going to do great work and bring a lot of value to their crewmates."

Between now and their launches, each of the astronauts will undergo a busy regimen of training on space station systems and the experiments they'll work with while in space.

"The addition of these extra crew members will be a boon to the entire scientific community doing research on station, and especially those who have been waiting for access to the platform" said Julie Robinson, NASA's chief scientist for the International Space Station. "We'll be capable of undertaking more complex research activities, which will in turn prepare NASA for the journey to Mars, unearth new markets for research in microgravity and deliver benefits back to Earth."

This will be Acaba's third trip to the space station and his second long-duration mission. He was selected as an astronaut in 2004, and flew on space shuttle Discovery's STS-119 station assembly mission in 2009, before returning for a longer stay in 2012, as part of the Expedition 31 and 32 crews.

Born in Inglewood, California, and raised in Anaheim, California, Acaba earned a bachelors' degree in geology at University of California in Santa Barbara, one master's in geology from the University of Arizona, and one in education, curriculum and instruction from Texas Tech University. Before coming to NASA, he spent time in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserves and the Peace Corps, worked as a hydro-geologist and taught high school and middle school.

Arnold will be visiting the space station for the second time, but this trip will be much longer than his last. He also was selected in the 2004 class and flew with Acaba on STS-119. On that mission, he conducted two spacewalks, spending 12 hours and 34 minutes outside the space station.

Arnold was raised in Bowie, Maryland. He earned a bachelo's in science from Frostburg State University, and a master's in marine, estuarine and environmental science from the University of Maryland. He has taught school in Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia and Romania. He also served as an oceanographic technician for the U.S. Naval Academy and a marine scientist at the Cape Cod National Seashore.

Selected as a member of the 2013 astronaut class, Hague is a native of Hoxie, Kansas, and a colonel in the U.S. Air Force. Prior to his selection, he was part of the Air Force Fellows program in Washington, where he worked as an adviser to the U.S. Senate on matters of national defense and foreign policy.

Hague earned a bachelor's degree in astronautical engineering from the U.S. Air Force Academy and a master's in aeronautical and astronautical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Auñón-Chancellor, from Fort Collins, Colorado, joined the astronaut corps in 2009, and has been at NASA since 2006, when she became a flight surgeon. She also served as the deputy lead for medical operations for NASA's Orion spacecraft before being selected as an astronaut.

In addition to a bachelor's in electrical engineering from George Washington University, Auñón-Chancellor holds a doctorate in medicine from the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, and is board certified in internal and aerospace medicine.

She also earned a master's in public health from the University of Texas Medical Branch.

Walker spent 163 days as a flight engineer for Expedition 24 and 25 in 2010. She was born in Houston and began her career at NASA's Johnson Space Center as a robotics flight controller for the space station with Rockwell Space Operations Co. in 1987. In 1995, she became a NASA employee, working on robotics and hardware for the station with the program's international partners. She also coordinated on-orbit problem resolution in the Mission Evaluation Room at Johnson and in Moscow, and served as deputy manager of the On-Orbit Engineering Office before being selected for the 2004 astronaut class.

Walker earned a bachelor's in physics, a master's in science and a doctorate in space physics, all from Rice University.

These astronauts will join a long and distinguished line of astronauts who have crewed the International Space Station since November 2000. With the help of the more than 200 astronauts who have visited, the space station enables us to demonstrate new technologies and make research breakthroughs not possible on Earth. Its convergence of science, technology and human innovation provide a springboard to NASA's next giant leap in exploration.

posted 01-18-2018 06:26 PM               

NASA Announces Updated Crew Assignments for Space Station Missions

NASA is announcing an addition to the NASA lineup for upcoming launches, and making changes to some assignments for International Space Station missions in 2018.

Serena Auñón-Chancellor, who previously was assigned to Expedition 58/59, has been reassigned to the Expedition 56/57 crew, launching in June. She is taking the place of astronaut Jeanette Epps, who will return to NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston to assume duties in the Astronaut Office and be considered for assignment to future missions. Anne McClain, a member of the 2013 astronaut class, will fly on the Expedition 58/59 crew, launching in November.

Auñón-Chancellor, from Fort Collins, Colorado, joined the astronaut corps in 2009 and has been at NASA since 2006, when she became a flight surgeon. Before being selected as an astronaut, she spent more than nine months in Russia supporting medical operations for space station crew members, including water survival training in the Ukraine, and served as the deputy lead for medical operations for NASA's Orion spacecraft.

In addition to a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from George Washington University, Auñón-Chancellor holds a doctorate in medicine from the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, is board certified in internal and aerospace medicine, and earned a master's degree in public health from the University of Texas Medical Branch.

McClain is from Spokane, Washington. She earned a bachelor's degree in mechanical and aeronautical engineering from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in 2002. She then went on to the University of Bath in England for a master's degree in aerospace engineering, followed by the University of Bristol in England for a master's degree in international relations.

She was commissioned as an officer in the U.S. Army in 2002, and earned her wings as a Kiowa Warrior pilot in 2005. She served 15 months in Operation Iraqi Freedom, flying more than 800 combat hours. McClain graduated from the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School in June 2013. She has over 2,000 flight hours in more than 20 rotary- and fixed-wing aircraft, and has logged time as a pilot in command, air mission commander, instructor pilot and test pilot.

posted 05-24-2018 10:43 AM               

NASA, Space Station Partners Announce Future Mission Crew Members

NASA astronauts Christina Hammock Koch and Andrew Morgan have been assigned to spaceflights scheduled to launch in 2019. Both Koch and Morgan were selected as NASA astronauts in 2013.

Koch has been assigned to Expedition 59/60, which is set to launch to the International Space Station in April 2019. Morgan will follow as a member of the Expedition 60/61 crew in July 2019.

Koch, who grew up in Jacksonville, North Carolina, earned bachelor's degrees in electrical engineering and physics, and a master's degree in electrical engineering from North Carolina State University in Raleigh.

Koch started her career as an electrical engineer focusing on space science instrument design at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. She went on to work as a research associate with the United States Antarctic Program, completing several deployments including spending the winter at the South Pole. She returned to space science instrument design at the Johns Hopkins University's Applied Physics Laboratory, contributing to such missions as the Juno probe to Jupiter. She then returned to her work at remote scientific research stations, including sessions as a field engineer in the Arctic and as station chief with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in American Samoa. Her extracurricular pursuits include running and other outdoor sports.

Morgan, who considers New Castle, Pennsylvania, his hometown, earned a bachelor's degree in environmental engineering at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York, as well as a doctorate of medicine from the Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences in Bethesda, Maryland, before completing his residency in emergency medicine at Madigan Army Medical Center-University of Washington.

Morgan began his career in military medicine by volunteering for U.S. Army special operations forces. He served as a medical team member in the Joint Special Operations Command at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, and went on to become the battalion surgeon for the 1st Battalion, 3rd Special Forces Group, where he served for three years. Following this, Morgan served on a strategic special operations assignment in Washington, D.C., before completing a fellowship in primary care sports medicine. Over the course of his special operations assignments, Morgan deployed to Iraq, Afghanistan and Africa in support of combat operations.

posted 05-24-2018 10:52 AM               

Walker is returning to the active corps here at JSC to assume duties in the astronaut office. She will be considered for assignment to future missions.

posted 05-31-2018 01:28 PM            

ESA astronaut Luca Parmitano to be Space Station commander on his next flight

Next year ESA astronaut Luca Parmitano is returning to the International Space Station for his second mission and he will be acting as commander of the weightless research outpost during the second part of his flight.

Luca was the first of ESA's astronauts selected in 2009 to fly to the Space Station in 2013 and stayed for 166 days. On his Volare mission Luca conducted two spacewalks and collected data for many experiments that are still running today.

Luca commented on the news: "I am honoured that the Space Station programme chose me for this role, and at the same time I am humbled by the task."

"Being the commander of the most trained and proficient people on and off Earth can be daunting," continues Luca, "I see myself as a facilitator, my goal will be to put everybody in the condition to perform to the best of their capability. Ultimately, though, I am responsible for the safety of the crew and the Station, and for overall mission success."

"I have been lucky enough, in my experience, to work with leaders whom I could look up to: I will do my best to follow their example and mentorship to achieve those goals" concludes Luca.

The Italian astronaut is preparing for his second trip into space by running through simulations and training with the new experiments that he will take part in. He is now training in Russia on the Soyuz spacecraft that will launch him into space alongside NASA astronaut Andrew Morgan and Roscosmos astronaut Alexander Skvortsov.

The trio will be part of Expeditions 60/61 on the Space Station. It is the first time that an Italian astronaut will be commander of the Space Station and only the third time for an ESA astronaut in its 18 years of operation. ESA astronaut Alexander Gerst is set to take up duties as Space Station commander during the second half of his Horizons mission this year.

"With two ESA astronauts set to run the Space Station as commander in one year, it is a great time for European spaceflight and an example of the international character of our collaboration in space", says ESA's director of human and robotic exploration David Parker.

"I am proud of the excellent work done by the astronauts and their trainers to be given the responsibility of humanity's outpost in space."

Circling our planet at 28 800 km/h the International Space Station offers space for six astronauts to conduct experiments for researchers all over the world in weightlessness as well as test and demonstrate techniques needed to further explore our Solar System.

Europe's laboratory Columbus was launched 10 years ago this year and over 200 experiments have been done inside. Columbus houses as many disciplines as possible in a small volume, from astrobiology to solar science through metallurgy and psychology. Countless papers have been published drawing conclusions from experiments performed in Columbus, and Luca will continue the research during his mission.

posted 05-31-2018 02:32 PM            

JAXA Astronaut Akihiko Hoshide selected as ISS Expedition crew member and assuming the post of Commander

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), a national research and development agency, is delighted to announce today that JAXA Astronaut Akihiko Hoshide was selected as a crew member of the International Space Station (ISS) Expedition 64/65. He will be the second Japanese to assume the post of commander on the ISS in leading the 65th Expedition.

Selected as a JAXA astronaut candidate in 1999, Astronaut Hoshide was launched as a mission specialist (MS) aboard the Space Shuttle in June 2008 for the second of three missions to deliver the Japanese Experiment Module ("Kibo") to the ISS. In July 2012, he also flew aboard the Soyuz spacecraft (31st launch of crew members to the ISS: 31S), working onboard for 124 days as flight engineer for the ISS Expedition 32/33 mission. The ISS Expedition 64/65 will be the third spaceflight for Astronaut Hoshide.

Period of stay in space: Approximately six months starting around May of 2020

Mission:

• Expedition 64 (approx. four months): Activities as the ISS Flight Engineer, mainly consisting of maintenance of the ISS facilities (including "Kibo"), scientific experiments, and manipulation of the Mobile Servicing System (MSS)
  
• Expedition 65 (approx. two months): In addition to the above activities, taking the lead as ISS Commander for a successful mission and ensured safety of the crew
  
• Project schedule: Training necessary for the long-duration stay on the ISS scheduled to begin around autumn 2019

posted 04-17-2019 08:37 AM               

NASA and its International Space Station partners have set a new schedule and new crew assignments that will include the first flight of NASA astronaut Jessica Meir.

Meir is scheduled to launch to the station with Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Skripochka and United Arab Emirates' Hazzaa Ali Almansoori, a Roscosmos spaceflight participant who will return with NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexey Ovchinin Oct. 3. Meir and Skripochka will return in spring 2020 with NASA astronaut Drew Morgan.

Meir's Sept. 25, 2019 launch to the station will mark her first spaceflight. The Caribou, Maine, native was selected as an astronaut in 2013, while serving as an assistant professor at Harvard Medical School/Massachusetts General Hospital. She holds a bachelor's in biology from Brown University, a master's in space studies from International Space University, and a doctorate in marine biology from Scripps Institution of Oceanography.

Prior to her selection to the astronaut corps, Meir's career focused on the physiology of animals in extreme environments, studying emperor penguins in the Antarctic, elephant seals in California, and bar-headed geese in studies at the University of British Columbia and in Mongolia. Meir also previously worked for Lockheed Martin's Human Research Facility, participated in reduced gravity research flights, took part in diving expeditions to the Antarctic and Belize, and served as a spaceflight analog crewmember for a NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations underwater mission and an ESA caving mission (ESA CAVES).

posted 07-23-2019 11:31 AM               

Status of JAXA Astronaut Soichi Noguchi's
Preparation of Upcoming International Space Station (ISS) Expedition

JAXA astronaut Soichi Noguchi, as he was released from his backup crew assignment for Soyuz 59S with its successful launch, is now slated to begin training to board a United States Crew Vehicle (USCV) while he continues to train for an ISS expedition crew.

The specific vehicle provider and its flight schedule will be announced when more details are available.

Please note that the plan is tentative and may change due to various factors including the USCV development schedule.

Comment of Astro Noguchi:

"I am very honored to have the opportunity to board the newly developed crew vehicle as the first Japanese astronaut."

"I believe that this marks the historical turning point of human space flight and am feeling tightened by the importance of this mission."

"There are still more steps to overcome for the development to realize the successful launch of the vehicle, but to pass on the dreams to the next space generation, I would like to continue training sincerely."

"Lastly, I would like to thank all for the support up until now, and would like to ask for the continuous support."