Excitement is building as NASA introduces its latest astronaut, Chris Williams, who is gearing up for an extraordinary mission to the International Space Station (ISS)!

Fresh from NASA's 23rd astronaut class, Williams is on track to make his mark in space history. He has been selected to travel aboard the Russian Soyuz MS-28 mission, where he will spend nearly eight months living and working in the incredible environment of the ISS as part of Expedition 74.

Scheduled to launch no earlier than November 2025 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, Williams will team up with Russian cosmonauts Sergey Kud-Sverchkov and Sergei Mikaev. This mission promises thrilling breakthroughs and captivating discoveries!

Williams joins the ranks of his fellow astronaut cohort, with Nichole Ayers recently becoming the first of their class to launch, serving as pilot on SpaceX's Crew-10. Not to be outdone, Andre Douglas is poised as part of NASA's Artemis 2 backup crew, and Anil Menon is training for the next crew mission, MS-29.

A Potomac, Maryland native, Williams boasts an impressive academic background. With a bachelor’s degree in physics from Stanford University and a Ph.D. in the same field from MIT, he also completed a Medical Physics Residency at Harvard Medical School. Before his astronaut selection, he was busy researching as a clinical physicist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital.

As the MS-28 crew prepares to embark, they’ll be taking over duties from the current MS-27 astronauts, who launched on April 8, carrying NASA’s Jonny Kim and two Russian cosmonauts. They are set to return to Earth shortly after the new crew arrives, making way for an exciting transition in orbit.

Once aboard the ISS, Williams will not only engage in high-stakes research but will also contribute to critical microgravity investigations that study spaceflight's effects on the human body. Expect him to be involved in groundbreaking technology demonstrations and maintain the station's vital operations.

With this mission underway, Chris Williams embodies the thrill of space exploration and the promising future of NASA’s ambitious journey into the cosmos!