She's Back: Kate Rubins Set to Return to Space Station
by Yvette Smith
During her first mission to space and to the International Space Station, Kate Rubins became the first person to sequence DNA in space. During her upcoming mission, Rubins will work on a cardiovascular experiment that builds on an investigation she completed during her first space mission and conduct research using the space station’s Cold Atom Lab. She’ll also be aboard the station for the arrival of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-1 mission and Boeing Orbital Flight Test-2.
Rubins’ launch is planned for Oct. 14 aboard the Soyuz MS-17 spacecraft from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan with her Expedition 63/64 crewmates, Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov and Sergey Kud-Sverchkov.
On Nov. 2, Rubins will celebrate with her crewmates the 20th anniversary of continuous human habitation of the space station – two decades of science and technology research and breakthroughs that are furthering America’s return to the Moon and human exploration of Mars.
In this image from her first mission to the station, she views the Earth below form the cupola.
Image Credit: NASA