On Sunday, a SpaceX Falcon rocket launched from Kennedy Space Center in Florida, carrying four astronauts to their new home aboard the International Space Station (ISS) for the upcoming months.
The Dragon spacecraft’s crew consists of NASA astronauts Matthew Dominick, Michael Barratt, Jeanette Epps, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexander Grebenkin. The crew successfully entered the ISS just before 4 a.m. EST on Tuesday, taking over duties from the previous group that had been on the station since August, representing the U.S., Denmark, Japan, and Russia.
This new team will spend half a year on the ISS, during which they’ll welcome the arrival of Boeing’s Starliner capsule, carrying test pilots in late April, followed by Sierra Space’s Dream Chaser in a mini-shuttle format.
Let’s meet the astronauts who’ve embarked on this journey to the ISS
- Matthew Dominick, the mission commander, joined NASA’s Astronaut Candidate Class in 2017. Originating from Colorado, Dominick became a Naval Aviator in 2007 and has accumulated over 1,600 flight hours.
- Michael Barratt, serving as the mission’s pilot, was chosen by NASA in 2000. With 212 days in space from two previous flights, Barratt, a physician from Vancouver, Washington, is the most experienced astronaut on the crew and will celebrate his 65th birthday in April, making him the oldest full-time astronaut to participate in a spaceflight.
- Jeanette Epps, the mission specialist, holds the distinction of being the second Black woman on a long-term ISS mission. Chosen by NASA in 2009, Epps’s presence on the mission serves as an inspiration, especially to Black girls, showing them that space exploration is a viable path. Before joining NASA, she worked for Ford Motor Company and the CIA. Epps hails from Syracuse, New York.
- Alexander Grebenkin, the mission specialist from Roscosmos, joins the NASA trio. Before his selection as a cosmonaut, Grebenkin was part of the Russian Armed Forces’ Air Force in both technical and operational capacities.
About the International Space Station
The International Space Station (ISS) is a monumental achievement in international cooperation and space exploration, serving as a home to astronauts and cosmonauts since November 2000. This remarkable space station has welcomed over 260 visitors from 20 different countries, with a notable 163 astronauts from the United States alone. Occupants of the ISS have the unique opportunity to live and work in space, conducting scientific experiments while orbiting the Earth 16 times a day. Comparable in size to a six-bedroom house, the ISS boasts six sleeping areas, two bathrooms, a gym, and a 360-degree bay window offering unparalleled views of Earth.
The journey to the ISS can vary significantly, with spacecraft reaching the station in anywhere from four hours to three days, dependent on the station’s position in its orbit around Earth at the time of launch.
As of early Tuesday morning, the ISS’s population increased by four, bringing the total number of occupants to eleven. This group will reside together on the station for a brief period before four of the earlier crew members – Jasmin Moghbeli, Andreas Mogensen, Satoshi Furukawa, and Konstantin Borisov – make their return to Earth. Following their departure, the station’s crew count will revert to seven. The ISS’s crew also includes Loral O’Hara, Oleg Kononenko, and Nikolai Chubb.
