Stephen Bowen and Woody Hoburg have received the required
permission for the mission due to launch in 2023 on a Falcon 9 rocket. Bowen
has been assigned the role of spacecraft commander and Hoburg will be its
pilot. Two more astronauts will be assigned the role of mission specialists at
a future date by international partners, the agency said.
The mission will launch from NASA's Kennedy Space Centre in
Florida and the four crew members will join an expedition crew aboard the ISS
in Low Earth Orbit. The floating space laboratory is a vital test bed for
overcoming long-duration spaceflight obstacles and expanding commercial
opportunities in Low Earth Orbit.
For Bowen, who has logged more than 40 days in space during
seven spacewalks, this will be his fourth trip to space. Crew-6 will be his
first long-duration visit to the ISS. Bowen was born in Cohasset,
Massachusetts, US. He holds a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from
the US Naval Academy in Maryland. Bowen was the first submarine officer to be
selected as an astronaut by NASA in July 2000.
For Hoburg, who was selected as an astronaut by NASA in
2017, this will be his first trip to space. When he was selected as an
astronaut, Hoburg was an assistant professor of aeronautics and astronautics at
MIT.
He also is a commercial pilot with instrument,
single-engine, and multi-engine ratings, according to NASA. He is one of NASA's
18 “Artemis team” astronauts, from whom the agency will choose the crew for its
Artemis 3 mission to return humans to the lunar surface.
SpaceX is proving to be a reliable private partner for NASA
to transport astronauts to space to conduct their research. Commercial
companies take the load off of transportation services to Low Earth Orbit to
allow NASA to focus on devoting its resources to building and designing
missions for deep space exploration.
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