Astronaut Mike Hopkins will be blasting off into space with three other astronauts this Saturday from the Kennedy Space Center as they travel to the International Space Station.

What's significant about this particular astronaut? He's a native of Richland , MO and a graduate from the School of the Osage.

In an article from KY3.com, Hopkins said:

”When I was growing up at the Lake there, going to the School of the Osage, I never would have thought that someday I was going to be sitting here getting ready to launch to the International Space Station on a brand new vehicle."

This particular mission isn't a launch by just the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). It's a partnership between NASA and SpaceX.  You may recognize Space X. It's Elon Musk's private company.

The article from KY3.com goes on to say that it’s about a nine hour flight to the ISS, and the crew will be up there for six months.

It was a two-day flight readiness review Tuesday as the Falcon 9 rocket and Crew Dragon capsule tentatively cleared for launch this Saturday.

Liftoff from the Kennedy Space Center is scheduled for 7:49 pm EST Saturday. If needed a backup opportunity is scheduled for Sunday, November 15 at 7:27 pm EST.

The Crew-1 commander is Michael Hopkins, the Missouri native, along with Victor Glover, Shannon Walker and Japanese astronaut Soichi Noguchi.

According to a story on msn.com:

The Crew-1 astronauts plan to remain aloft for 197 days, eclipsing the 84-day U.S. record set by the final Skylab crew in 1974.

 

 

 

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