NASA astronaut to highlight history of the space station from orbitNASA's next astronaut to launch to the International Space Station will use his unique position – in both time and space – to share the history of the outpost.
Jeff Williams, who in March will become the first American to spend three long-duration expeditions aboard the space station and will set a new U.S. record for cumulative time off the Earth, will dedicate part of his upcoming six-month expedition to highlighting how the orbital complex came to be what it is today.
"It occurred to me a few months ago that I have gotten the unique opportunity to have gone in the early days, before Expedition 1, to the space station for the first time and then to be there again, about halfway through assembly with a crew of two, and then back with a crew of three, and then later with a crew of six," Williams said in an interview after a briefing at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston on Thursday (Jan. 7). "So my career covers the history of the space station."