Cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov, born May 24, 1990 in the previous Soviet Union, went into space aboard SpaceX Crew-9 to the International Space Station, as mission specialist in September 2024. He participated in Expedition 72 and planned to spend a month in space, but due to the problems with the spacecraft, his stay was extended.
He spent 171 days in space, returning to Earth in March 2025.
Soyuz TMA-041M crew (L-R): Joe Acaba, Gennady Padalka, Sergei Revin
Soyuz TMA-04M, launched May 15, 2012, carried the members of Expedition 31 to the International Space Station. Its crew consisted of Commander Gennady Padalka, Sergei Revin, and Joe Acaba. During the expedition, an unmanned Dragon spacecraft from SpaceX docked with the ISS as part of a test rendezvous.
They returned to Earth after 125 days on September 17, 2012.
Jessica Watkins, born May 14, 1988 in Gaithersburg, Maryland, went into space aboard the SpaceX Crew-4 Crew Dragon spacecraft Freedom as mission specialist. She launched in April 2022 to the International Space Station and participated in Expeditions 67 and 68. She spent over 170 days in space before returning to Earth.
Boeing Starliner crew Sunita Williams and Barry Wilmore
Boeing Starliner mission patch
Astronauts Sunita 'Suni' Williams and Barry Wilmore returned to Earth yesterday, March 18, 2025 after nine months in space. They launched aboard the Boeing Starliner capsule to the International Space Station in June 2024 for an eight-day mission. However, the Starliner's thrusters malfunctioned as it approached the ISS, and NASA determined it was too risky for the crew to return. The spacecraft returned uncrewed on September 7, 2024.
SpaceX Crew-9 launched on September 28, 2024 to the ISS with astronaut Nick Hague and cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov.
Matthias Maurer, born March 18, 1970 in West Germany, is an astronaut with the European Space Agency. He went into space as part of SpaceX Crew-3, launched in November 2021 to the International Space Station. He participated in Expeditions 66-67 and spent over 176 days in space. He returned to Earth in May 2022.
Crew-10 (L-R): Kirill Peskov, Nichole Ayers, Anne McClain, Takuya Onishi
NASA SpaceX Crew-10 mission patch
SpaceX Crew-10 lifted off successfully from the Kennedy Space Center here at Cape Canaveral tonight, a little after 7pm. Its crew consists of Commander Anne McClain (NASA), Pilot Nichole Ayers (NASA), Takuya Onishi (JAXA), and Kirill Peskov (Roscosos). It is the first flight for Ayers and Peskov, the second for McClain and Takuya Onishi.
They will dock with the International Space Station and participate in Expeditions 72-73, before returning to earth, scheduled for July 2025.
Eytan Stibbe, born January 12, 1958 in Haifa, Israel, is a space tourist and went into space as part of Axiom Space-1 mission aboard the SpaceX Crew Dragon in April 2022. He purchased his ticket into space and demonstrated Israeli technologies during his mission. He spent over 17 days in space before returning to Earth.
The first Israeli in space was Ilan Ramon who died when the space shuttle Columbia disintegrated during re-entry in 2003.
Josh Cassada, born July 18, 1973 in San Diego, California, went into space as pilot of SpaceX Crew-5 to the International Space Station in October 2022. Prior to becoming astronaut, he conducted research at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, and became a naval officer. He completed his flight training and flew in Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom.
He was selected as an astronaut in 2013. He spent over 157 days in space and participated in Expedition 68. He returned to Earth in March 2023.
Alexander Grebenkin, born July 15, 1982 in the former Soviet Union, is currently aboard the International Space Station. He arrived on SpaceX Crew-8, launched on March 4, 2024. He completed Expedition 70 with his fellow SpaceX crew members and is currently involved in Expedition 71. He is scheduled to return to Earth in August 2024.
Raja Chari, born June 24, 1977 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and raised in Cedar Falls, Iowa, went into space aboard SpaceX Crew-3 to the International Space Station. He graduated from the US Air Force Academy in 1999, and attended Undergraduate Pilot Training at Vance AFB in Enid, Oklahoma. In December 2020, he was selected for the Artemis Team, to help pave the way back to the moon.
He was commander of the SpaceX Crew-3 in the Endurance, launched November 11, 2021 to the ISS. He participated in Expeditions 66-67 and conducted 2 EVAs, lasting a total of almost 14 hours, during his stay. Chari returned to Earth in May 2022 after 174 days in space.
Endeavour crew (L-R): Douglas Hurley, Robert Behnken
SpaceX Crew Dragon Demo-2 (Endeavour), launched May 30, 2020, was the first crewed orbital spaceflight launched from the US since the end of the Space Shuttle project in 2011. Its crew consisted of Douglas Hurley and Robert Behnken, both veterans of the space shuttle program. Nineteen hours after launch, Endeavour docked with the International Space Station.
Behnken and Hurley worked with Expedition 63, and Behnken conducted four EVAs with fellow astronaut Chris Cassidy. After sixty-two days, Endeavour undocked from the ISS and splashed down thirteen hours later. It was the first water landing by astronauts since 1975.
Hayley Arceneaux, born December 4, 1991 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, went into space aboard SpaceX's Crew Dragon Resilience, as part of the Inspiration4 crew. Resilience was launched in September 2021 and she spent almost 3 days in space. She is the youngest person to orbit the Earth.
She survived a bout with cancer when she was 10 years old, and the experience sparked her interest in working with cancer patients. She works as a Physician's assistant, working with patients suffering from leukemia and lymphoma. She is the first astronaut to launch with a prosthesis.
Robert Hines, born January 11, 1975 in Fayetteville, North Carolina, is a NASA astronaut and went into space aboard SpaceX's Crew Dragon spacecraft named Freedom. He piloted Freedom and docked with the International Space Station in April 2022 and remained there with the rest of the crew until they returned to Earth in October, after spending over 170 days in space.
Nicole Aunapu Mann, born June 27, 1977 in Petaluma, California, became the first Native American woman in space when she launched with SpaceX Crew-5 in October 2022 to the International Space Station. John Herrington was the first Native American in space when he flew aboard Endeavour (STS-113) in November 2002.
She has Wailaki heritage, and is an enrolled member of the Round Valley Indian Tribes in California.
Mann is currently participating in Expedition 68 and will continue in Expedition 69. She is scheduled to return to Earth in March 2023.
About noon today, NASA/SpaceX's Commercial Crew Program launched its fifth crew to the International Space Station. Its crew consists of Commander Nicole Mann (NASA), Pilot Josh Cassada (NASA), Anna Kikina (Roscosmos), and Koichi Wakata (JAXA), who is on his fifth spaceflight. They plan to dock with the ISS tomorrow.
They are scheduled to stay in space for approximately six months and return to Earth in March.
Falcon 1, constructed by SpaceX, successfully launched September 28, 2008, after three previous attempts had failed. It became the first, privately-developed, liquid-fueled rocket to achieve orbit around Earth. The fourth flight carried a mass simulator (RatSat) as its payload.
Inspiration4 crew (L-R): Sian Proctor, Jared Isaacman, Christopher Sembroski, Hayley Arceneaux
SpaceX's Inspiration4 mission patch
SpaceX's launched its Crew Dragon Resilience with the first all-commercial crew, September 16, 2021, on the Inspiration4 mission. SpaceX operated the flight on behalf of the CEO of Shift4 Payments Jared Isaacman, to raise money for St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital. Isaacman bought the flight with its four seats from SpaceX. Two of the seats were given to St. Jude. The hospital selected Hayley Arceneaux, a physician assistant at St. Jude and a bone cancer survivor to go on the flight.
St. Jude held a raffle for the third flight. Entrants had to be a U.S. citizen and donate between $10 - $10,000. Kyle Hippchen won the raffle but gave the seat to friend, Christopher Sembroski, a US Air Force veteran.
The fourth seat was awarded by a competition that rewarded the best business idea to make use of Shift4's commerce solutions. Entrepreneur Sian Proctor was selected as pilot.
The mission raised more than $243M, far more than the targeted $100M. It lasted almost 3 days, and the crew successfully splashed down in the Atlantic Ocean, September 18.
Crew-1 Dragon (L-R): Shannon Walker, Victor Glover, Michael Hopkins, Soichi Noguchi
The crew of SpaceX Dragon Resilience splashed down in the Gulf of Mexico this morning just before 3am May 2, 2021. The returning astronauts are Michael Hopkins, Victor Glover, Shannon Walker and Soichi Noguchi. Launched November 15, 2020, they spent 168 days in space, all but one of those days on the International Space Station. They completed 2688 orbits of Earth and traveled 71,242,199 statute miles.
Victor Glover, born April 30, 1976 in Pomona, California, is currently aboard the International Space Station. He went into space aboard SpaceX Crew-1, launched in November 2020. He has participated in Expedition 61 and is now involved with Expedition 62. He is scheduled to return to Earth Sunday, May 2, 2021.
Michael Hopkins, born December 28, 1968 in Lebanon, Missouri, has been in space twice.
His first flight was aboard Soyuz TMA-10M in September 2013 to the International Space Station. He participated in Expeditions 37 and 38. He remained on board for over 166 days and returned to Earth in March 2014.
His second and current trip started in November 2020 aboard SpaceX Crew-1 as commander to the International Space Station. He is participating in Expedition 64 and will participate in Expedition 65 before returning to Earth in May 2021.
