{"id":51950,"date":"2020-03-31T12:13:00","date_gmt":"2020-03-31T16:13:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/?migration=converted-node-459373"},"modified":"2023-08-17T11:19:23","modified_gmt":"2023-08-17T15:19:23","slug":"nasa-adds-shannon-walker-to-first-operational-crewed-spacex-mission","status":"publish","type":"press-release","link":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/news-release\/nasa-adds-shannon-walker-to-first-operational-crewed-spacex-mission\/","title":{"rendered":"NASA Adds Shannon Walker to First Operational Crewed SpaceX Mission"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"\" class=\"hds-media hds-module wp-block-image\"><div class=\"margin-left-auto margin-right-auto nasa-block-align-inline\"><div class=\"hds-media-wrapper margin-left-auto margin-right-auto\"><figure class=\"hds-media-inner hds-cover-wrapper hds-media-ratio-none \"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/26631233446_95d9572cdc_k.jpg\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2048\" height=\"1358\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/26631233446_95d9572cdc_k.jpg?w=2048\" class=\"attachment-2048x2048 size-2048x2048\" alt=\"Shannon Walker looking out of the international space station's cupola at the Caribbean view beneath on November 25, 2010.\" style=\"transform: scale(1); transform-origin: 50% 50%; object-position: 50% 50%; object-fit: cover;\" block_context=\"nasa-block\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/26631233446_95d9572cdc_k.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/26631233446_95d9572cdc_k.jpg?resize=300,199 300w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/26631233446_95d9572cdc_k.jpg?resize=768,509 768w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/26631233446_95d9572cdc_k.jpg?resize=1024,679 1024w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/26631233446_95d9572cdc_k.jpg?resize=1536,1019 1536w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/26631233446_95d9572cdc_k.jpg?resize=400,265 400w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/26631233446_95d9572cdc_k.jpg?resize=600,398 600w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/26631233446_95d9572cdc_k.jpg?resize=900,597 900w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/26631233446_95d9572cdc_k.jpg?resize=1200,796 1200w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/26631233446_95d9572cdc_k.jpg?resize=2000,1326 2000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2048px) 100vw, 2048px\" loading=\"eager\" \/><\/a><\/figure><figcaption class=\"hds-caption padding-y-2\"><div class=\"hds-caption-text p-sm margin-0\">Shannon Walker looking out of the international space station\u2019s cupola at the Caribbean view beneath on November 25, 2010. <strong>Credits: NASA<\/strong><\/div><\/figcaption><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n<p>NASA has assigned astronaut <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/astronauts\/biographies\/shannon-walker\/biography\" rel=\"noopener\">Shannon Walker<\/a> to the first operational crewed flight of the SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft on a mission to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/mission_pages\/station\/main\/index.html\" rel=\"noopener\">International Space Station<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Walker will join NASA astronauts <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/astronauts\/biographies\/michael-s-hopkins\/biography\" rel=\"noopener\">Michael Hopkins<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/astronauts\/biographies\/victor-j-glover\/biography\" rel=\"noopener\">Victor Glover Jr<\/a>., as well as Soichi Noguchi of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), for a six-month expedition aboard the unique space laboratory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This mission will be the first in a series of regular, rotational flights to the station following NASA\u2019s certification of the new crewed system following completion and validation of SpaceX\u2019s test flight with astronauts, known as Demo-2. This test is expected to take place in mid-to-late May as part of NASA\u2019s Commercial Crew Program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Pending the successful Demo-2 test, Walker, Glover, Hopkins, and Noguchi will launch aboard Crew Dragon on SpaceX\u2019s Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Pad 39A at NASA\u2019s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. That launch is targeted for later this year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Walker was born in Houston and began her career at NASA\u2019s Johnson Space Center in Houston in 1987 as a robotics flight controller for the space shuttle with Rockwell Space Operations Co. She became a NASA employee in 1995, working on robotics and avionics hardware for the station with the program\u2019s international partners. She also coordinated on-orbit problem resolution in the Mission Evaluation Room at Johnson and in Moscow and served as acting manager of the On-Orbit Engineering Office before NASA selected her for the 2004 astronaut class. As an astronaut, she spent 163 days as a flight engineer aboard the space station for Expeditions 24 and 25 in 2010. Walker earned a bachelor\u2019s degree in physics and a master\u2019s and doctorate in space physics, all from Rice University in Houston.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>NASA already <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/press-release\/nasa-assigns-crews-to-first-test-flights-missions-on-commercial-spacecraft\" rel=\"noopener\">assigned Glover and Hopkins<\/a> to the first operation SpaceX crewed mission in August 2018. This will be the first spaceflight for Glover and the second for Hopkins, who lived aboard the space station from September 2013 to March 2014 as part of Expeditions 37 and 38.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It will be the third spaceflight for Noguchi, who was a space shuttle crew member on the STS-114 mission in 2005 and a space station crew member from December 2009 to June 2010 as part of Expeditions 22 and 23.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>NASA\u2019s Commercial Crew Program is working with the American aerospace industry as companies develop and operate a new generation of spacecraft and launch systems capable of carrying crews to low-Earth orbit and to the space station. Commercial transportation to and from the station will provide expanded utility, additional research time and broader opportunities for discovery on the orbital outpost.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The station is a critical testbed for NASA to understand and overcome the challenges of long-duration spaceflight. As commercial companies focus on providing human transportation services to and from low-Earth orbit, NASA is free to focus on building spacecraft and rockets for deep space missions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Follow NASA astronauts on social media at:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<a class=\"twitter-timeline\" data-width=\"500\" data-height=\"750\" data-dnt=\"true\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/NASA_Astronauts?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" rel=\"noopener\">Tweets by NASA_Astronauts<\/a><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Get more information on NASA\u2019s Commercial Crew Program at:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\nhttps:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/commercialcrew\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>-end-<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Joshua Finch \/ Stephanie Schierholz<br>\nHeadquarters, Washington<br>\n202-358-1100<br>\n<a href=\"mailto:joshua.a.finch@nasa.gov\">joshua.a.finch@nasa.gov<\/a> \/ stephanie.schierholz@nasa.gov<br>\nBrandi Dean \/ Jennifer Hernandez<br>\nJohnson Space Center, Houston<br>\n281-483-5111<br>\nbrandi.k.dean@nasa.gov \/ jennifer.hernandez-1@nasa.gov<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>NASA has assigned astronaut Shannon Walker to the first operational crewed flight of the SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft on a mission to the International Space Station. Walker will join NASA astronauts Michael Hopkins and Victor Glover Jr., as well as Soichi Noguchi of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), for a six-month expedition aboard the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":53610,"template":"","meta":{"nasa_hds_core_meta_l10n":"en-US","nasa_hds_core_meta_article_editor":"","nasa_hds_core_meta_article_contacts":[],"nasa_hds_core_meta_article_topic":"","nasa_hds_core_meta_linked_locations":[],"nasa_hds_core_meta_article_related_articles":[],"hds_migrate_meta_pr_release_id":"20-035","hds_migrate_meta_pr_release_type":"RELEASE","nasa_hds_core_meta_location_x":"","nasa_hds_core_meta_location_y":"","nasa_hds_core_meta_gallery_images":[]},"categories":[3191,2801,3167,3166,3165,3164,3152,3151,8368,8370,2656,2735,2861,2867],"news-tags":[12372],"internal-terms":[12725,3915,11518,9508,9505],"coauthors":[],"parsely":{"version":"1.1.0","meta":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","headline":"NASA Adds Shannon Walker to First Operational Crewed SpaceX Mission","url":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/news-release\/nasa-adds-shannon-walker-to-first-operational-crewed-spacex-mission\/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/news-release\/nasa-adds-shannon-walker-to-first-operational-crewed-spacex-mission\/"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/26631233446_95d9572cdc_k.jpg?w=150&h=150&crop=1","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/26631233446_95d9572cdc_k.jpg"},"articleSection":"Missions","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"NASA"}],"creator":["NASA"],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"NASA","logo":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/themes\/nasa\/assets\/images\/nasa-logo.svg"},"keywords":["NASA Centers & Facilities","NASA Headquarters","Commercial Crew","Commercial Space","Expedition 22","Expedition 23","Expedition 24","Expedition 25","Expedition 37","Expedition 38","Expedition 62","Expedition 64","Humans in Space","International Space Station (ISS)","Johnson Space Center"],"dateCreated":"2020-03-31T16:13:00Z","datePublished":"2020-03-31T16:13:00Z","dateModified":"2023-08-17T15:19:23Z"},"rendered":"<meta name=\"parsely-title\" content=\"NASA Adds Shannon Walker to First Operational Crewed SpaceX Mission\" \/>\n<meta name=\"parsely-link\" content=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/news-release\/nasa-adds-shannon-walker-to-first-operational-crewed-spacex-mission\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"parsely-type\" content=\"post\" \/>\n<meta name=\"parsely-image-url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/26631233446_95d9572cdc_k.jpg?w=150&h=150&crop=1\" \/>\n<meta name=\"parsely-pub-date\" content=\"2020-03-31T16:13:00Z\" \/>\n<meta name=\"parsely-section\" content=\"Missions\" \/>\n<meta name=\"parsely-tags\" content=\"NASA Centers & Facilities,NASA Headquarters,Commercial Crew,Commercial Space,Expedition 22,Expedition 23,Expedition 24,Expedition 25,Expedition 37,Expedition 38,Expedition 62,Expedition 64,Humans in Space,International Space Station (ISS),Johnson Space Center\" \/>\n<meta name=\"parsely-author\" content=\"NASA\" \/>","tracker_url":"https:\/\/cdn.parsely.com\/keys\/nasa.gov\/p.js"},"read_time":3,"featured_image":{"id":53610,"file":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/26631233446_95d9572cdc_k.jpg","title":"26631233446_95d9572cdc_k","alt":"Shannon Walker looking out of the international space station's cupola at the Caribbean view beneath on November 25, 2010.","caption":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/press-release\/51950"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/press-release"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/press-release"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/press-release\/51950\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":369693,"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/press-release\/51950\/revisions\/369693"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/53610"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=51950"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=51950"},{"taxonomy":"news-tags","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-tags?post=51950"},{"taxonomy":"internal-terms","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/internal-terms?post=51950"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=51950"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}