A few hours ago, SpaceX’s Crew Dragon Resilience spacecraft blasted off atop a Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral in its Crew-1 o SpaceX Crew-1 mission. After about eleven minutes, it successfully separated from the rocket’s last stage and went en route to carry out its mission. This is the second crewed mission of the Crew Dragon spacecraft, this time within the normal rotation of the International Space Station crew.

The four new members of the International Space Station crew, who complete the Expedition 64 crew, are:

Michael S. Hopkins. Born on December 28, 1968 in Lebanon, Missouri, USA, earned a bachelor of science in aerospace engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1991 and a master of science in aerospace engineering at Stanford in 1992. Whe he was at the university he was a member of the Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps and in the Air Force he became a flight test engineer. He also studied foreign languages ​​and political science at the University of Parma in Italy. He currently holds the rank of colonel of the U.S. Air Force. He was selected as an astronaut candidate by NASA in 2009. He served on the International Space Station as part of Expedition 37/38, which was launched on September 25, 2013, and returned to Earth on March 10, 2014.

Victor Jerome Glover. Born on April 30, 1976 in Pomona, California, USA, he earned a bachelor of science in engineering from California Polytechnic State University in 1999 before joining the US Navy. During his service, he became a test pilot, earned a Masters in Test Flight Engineering from Air University in 2007, a Masters in Systems Engineering from Naval Postgraduate School in 2009, and a Masters of Military Operational Art and Science in 2010. He was selected as an astronaut candidate in 2013. He’s married and has four children. He’s on his first space mission.

Soichi Noguchi. Born on April 15, 1965 in Yokohama, Japan, he earned a bachelor’s degree in 1989 and a master’s degree, both in aeronautical engineering, in 1991 from Tokyo Imperial University. He worked in the research and development department of Ishikawajima-Harima Heavy Industries. he was selected as an astronaut candidate in 1996. He was part of the Space Shuttle Discovery crew on the STS-114 mission between July 26 and August 9, 2005. During that mission, he made a stop at the International Space Station. He served on the Station as part of Expedition 22/23, which was launched on December 21, 2009, and returned to Earth on March 18, 2010. He is the first non-American to fly three different spacecraft.

Shannon Walker. Born on June 4, 1965 in Houston, Texas, USA, she earned a bachelor’s degree from Rice University in 1987, a master’s degree in 1992 and a doctorate in 1993, also in physics. In 1987 he began working for the Rockwell Space Operation Company at Johnson Space Center (JSC) as a robotic flight controller for the Space Shuttle program. Over the years, she also had other JSC duties until 1999, when she moved to Moscow for a year for a collaborative job with the Russian space agency Roscosmos. She was selected as an astronaut candidate in 2004. She has previously served aboard the International Space Station as part of Expedition 24/25, which was launched on June 15, 2010, and returned to Earth on November 25, 2010. She is married to astronaut Andy Thomas.

Tomorrow, at approximately 4 UTC, the Crew Dragon Resilience will reach the International Space Station and dock directly at the Harmony module. This launch was delayed after a possible problem was detected in the engines of another Falcon 9 rocket, but finally the normal crew rotation began using a spacecraft other than the Russian Soyuz. The Crew-1 mission is the first of at least six for the Crew Dragon, and marks another piece of history.