Who are the 4 astronauts on SpaceX’s 1st commercial crew flight for NASA?

Team Udayavani, Nov 17, 2020, 1:05 PM IST

As part of NASA’s first commercial human spacecraft system in history, a crew of four astronauts is now en route to the International Space Station (ISS) on a 27-hour flight, onboard SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft called Resilience.

NASA astronauts Michael Hopkins, Victor Glover and Shannon Walker, as well as JAXA astronaut Soichi Noguchi, are set to stay on the ISS for six months after the launch and help with maintenance and research.

Shannon Walker who holds a Doctorate of Philosophy in Space Physics is the team’s mission specialist. She is an ISS veteran, having spent 161 days aboard the orbiting laboratory in 2010 conducting numerous experiments.

Victor Glover has in the past served as Legislative Fellow in US Senate. A native of California, Glover was selected as an astronaut in 2013 and is a former Naval aviator.

Astronaut Soichi Noguchi holds a Doctorate of Philosophy in Advanced Interdisciplinary Studies. He is also a mission specialist and is the first international NASA-SpaceX crew member. Noguchi has been on two spaceflights and made history as the first Japanese astronaut to perform a spacewalk outside the ISS in 2005.

Michael Hopkins holds a Master of Science in Aerospace Engineering. He has worked as a flight test engineer with the Air Force before joining NASA.