58-year-old Jeffrey Williams will be leaving for the space station this May.
(Mirror Daily, United States) – This March will mark a significant event for the Space Station as NASA sends pioneer astronaut back to space. Jeff Williams will be returning to the space station for the third time in his life, making him a veteran on the space station.
The first time, the 58-year-old astronaut went to space was in 2000. He then left in May aboard the Atlantis space shuttle. The mission lasted six months and the crew was charged with the maintenance of the space station.
His second mission away from Earth was in 2009. He then left for the space station aboard the TMA-16 Soyuz and spent 167 days on the International Station. The project was named Expedition 22.
Jeff Williams is known not only for his career as an astronaut for NASA but also for his book called The Works of His Hands: A View of God’s Creation from Space, in which he recollects his time spent on the International Space Station, the sensations that he experienced while watching over Earth, while floating in space in the special costume. The recollections are accompanied by lots of pictures taken from the Space Station.
In this third mission, the now-retired astronaut will try and write a history of the International Space Station. The document will compile stories of the astronauts that served there over the years, photographs, details on how the maintenance works go, and many more.
Williams is proud to have been a part of the history of the station, and to have worked with so many people. He was aboard the Expedition 1, and will now join Expedition 47. This says a lot about his devotion to the space program. The astronaut says that, counting the crew he will depart with this May, he has been into space with a total of 50 different people.
This last expedition is not only focused on the history book that Jeff Wiliams wants to write. It will also oversee the departures and arrivals of the Russian and American cargo vehicles and the process that tends to the resupply of the station.
They will also be in charge of facilitating approximately 250 different research projects and technological prototypes.
Expedition 47 will be aboard to oversee a new habitat, the Expandable Bigelow Activity Module while it shall be inflated.
Williams is proud of the history of the space station, and of the station itself, saying that it has been one of the greatest achievements of mankind.
Image source: www.pixabay.com