NASA astronaut Mike Hopkins is slated to head back to the International Space Station next month for his first flight to orbit since 2013.
Why it matters: Hopkins will command the SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft that will take him and three other crewmembers — NASA's Shannon Walker and Victor Glover and Japanese astronaut Soichi Noguchi — to the station as part of the capsule's first crewed, non-test flight to orbit.
What's happening: Hopkins has been training for months with his fellow astronauts.
- The four crewmembers paid close attention to SpaceX's first crewed flight with NASA's Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley this summer to help make any changes necessary ahead of their flight.
- But Hopkins and his crewmembers are effectively the first to go through a version of what will be SpaceX's training for astronauts.
- "Bob and Doug had been working with SpaceX for quite a few years before they launched," Hopkins told me. "They didn't have to sit through the same classes and a number of things that we've gone through."
Between the lines: Hopkins says he's excited to see how the ISS has changed in the years since he's been gone.
- One thing that's different: NASA is now allowing private companies like Estée Lauder to pay to market their products using the station.
- While some say that's a misuse of astronaut crew time, Hopkins doesn't necessarily see it that way:
What's next: NASA and SpaceX were originally planning on launching the mission on Halloween, but technical concerns about the Falcon 9 rocket forced a delay.
- Now, NASA is targeting Nov. 14 for Hopkins and his crewmates to take flight from Florida.
