Who Are the 3 Astronauts Now Manning the International Space Station?

Who are the three astronauts who will man the International Space Station through September?
Who Are the 3 Astronauts Now Manning the International Space Station?
Russian cosmonaut Pavel Vinogradov. (Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center)
Zachary Stieber
5/13/2013
Updated:
7/18/2015

Before the three astronauts of Expedition 35 left the International Space Station on May 13 and headed to Earth, they handed the reins over to three other astronauts:  Russian cosmonaut Pavel Vinogradov and flight engineers Alexander Misurkin, also a Russian, and Chris Cassidy, of NASA. 

Who are these three people who are up in space?

Here’s an introduction:

Pavel Vinogradov (New commander): 

-Married with one child

-Graduated from the Moscow Aviation Institute, with experience in both the Aircraft Department and the Aircraft Automated Designing Systems Department 

-The 360th cosmonaut in the world and the 87th cosmonaut of Russia

-Before this flight, he has been on two spaceflights, logging 380 total days in space, including over 31 hours over six spacewalks

-Hobbies include sports, astronomy, and cosmonautics history

Alexander Misurkin:

-Married with two children

-Graduated from the Kacha High Air Force Pilot School and the Armavir Military Aviation Institute

-A retired lieutenant-colonel of the Russian Armed Forces

-Before this flight, he had never been in space

-Hobbies include badminton, basketball, and skiing

Chris Cassidy:

-Married with three children 

-Graduated from the Naval Academy Prep School, the Naval Academy, and MIT (the latter with an ocean engineering degree)

-Served in Afghanistan as a Navy SEAL. 

-Before this flight, he had been on one space flight, logging 376 hours, including just over 18 hours over three spacewalks

 

The three astronauts launched from Earth on March 28, leaving from Kazakhstan, and are the first crew to take an expedited trip of six hours instead of the normal two days. They will be at the International Space Station through September.

The station had five partners: NASA, the Russian Space Agency, the Canadian Space Agency, the European Space Agency and the Japanese Space Agency