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NASA Astronaut Jessica Meir Prepares For Sept. 25 Blastoff to International Space Station

By  //  July 9, 2019

selected for astronaut training in 2013, this will be Meir's first expedition into space

NASA astronaut Jessica Meir, above, along with crewmates Oleg Skripochka of Russia and Hazzaa Ali Almansoori of the United Arab Emirates are scheduled to launch Sept. 25 aboard the Soyuz MS-15 spacecraft from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan to the International Space Station. (NASA image)

(NASA) – NASA astronaut Jessica Meir, along with crewmates Oleg Skripochka of Russia and Hazzaa Ali Almansoori of the United Arab Emirates are scheduled to launch Sept. 25 aboard the Soyuz MS-15 spacecraft from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan to the International Space Station.

Meir, Skripochka and Almansoori will join six other ISS crew members NASA astronauts Nick Hague, Christina Koch and Andrew Morgan; European Space Agency astronaut Luca Parmitano, and Roscosmos cosmonauts Alexander Skvortsov and Alexey Ovchinin.

Meir, Skripochka and Almansoori will join Koch and Morgan during their extended stays on the space station to support research on the effects of long-duration human spaceflight.

The data gathered from the extended stays will show the variability in responses humans might have to living in space for longer than six months, which will help scientists prepare for future missions to the Moon and Mars.

During Expeditions 60 and 61, the crew will support about 250 investigations and technology demonstrations not possible on Earth.

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These pursuits broaden our knowledge of Earth, space, physical and biological sciences that benefit our everyday lives, in addition to enabling long-duration exploration into deep space for the future.

This will be the first expedition into space for Meir, who grew up in Caribou, Maine, and was selected for astronaut training in 2013.

She earned a bachelor’s degree in biology from Brown University, a master’s degree in space studies from the International Space University and a doctorate in marine biology from Scripps Institution of Oceanography in San Diego.

Before becoming an astronaut, Meir studied the physiology of animals in extreme environments, leading to her participation in diving expeditions to the Antarctic and Belize.

At the time of her selection as an astronaut, Meir was working as an assistant professor at Harvard Medical School/Massachusetts General Hospital.

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