From farm to space. That’s the journey astronaut Michael Hopkins has taken.
Hopkins is one of the four astronauts aboard the SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule Resilience that launched Sunday and has since successfully docked at the International Space Station. He also happens to be the commander.
"SpaceX, this is Resilience. Excellent job, right down the center," Hopkins told mission control after the docking, according to NPR. "SpaceX and NASA, congratulations."
Hopkins is a farm kid. He was born in Lebanon, Mo., and grew up on a farm outside Richland. A former flight test engineer with the U.S. Air Force, he has a bachelor’s degree in aerospace engineering from the University of Illinois and a master’s degree in aerospace engineering from Stanford University.
After his six-month stay at the space station, Hopkins, 51, “will have logged nearly a year of his life in orbit,” according to LakeExpo, which serves Lakes of the Ozarks in Missouri and dubbed Hopkins a “native son.” Hopkins was a member of the Expedition 37/38 crew and spent 166 days in space in 2013.
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