Chris Cassidy: The astronaut who is onboard ISS and welcomed SpaceX Crew Dragon

Christopher J. Cassidy was selected as an astronaut by NASA in 2004. According to the official website of NASA, he is a veteran of two manned missions into space, one was Expedition 35 and the other one was STS-127. STS-127 marked Chris Cassidy as the 500th person to take a spacecraft into space. The mission of the flight was to send the Japanese Experiment Module Exposed Facility and the Experiment Logistics Module Exposed Section into the International Space Station.

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All about Chris Cassidy 

During Expedition 35, Chriss Cassidy and co-astronaut from European Space Agency astronaut, Luca Parmitano, had a spontaneous spacewalk to replace a pump controller box cut short when Paramitano had cooling water leak into his helmet as per the official website of NASA. Chris Cassidy is a former U.S. Navy SEAL and been active in MediterraneanAfghanistan. Chris Cassidy has been part of several combat operations including the nine-day operation at the Zharwar Kili Cave alongside Afghanistan-Pakistan border. At the moment Chris Cassidy is the acting commander onboard International Space Station after the Expedition 63 mission.

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Personal Information of Chris Cassidy

Chris Cassidy was born in 1970 in Massachusetts, however, he was raised in Maine. As per reports, he personally believes York in Maine to be his native town. He is married to Julie Byrd. According to the official website of NASA, Chris Cassidy graduated from York High School, in Maine. He completed his official training for navy in the Naval Academy Prep School in Newport, Rhode Island in the year 1989. He acquired his Bachelor in Science in Mathematics in U.S Naval Academy in the year 1993. He also completed his Master of Science in Ocean Engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the year 2000. In 2015, he received his honorary PhD from Husson University.

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NASA works

Chris Cassidy joined as an astronaut in NASA in May 2004 and since then he has been part of several missions. For the same, he finished his Astronaut Candidate training in the year 2006. Between the years 2006 and 2008, he was the Capsule Communicator in the Mission Control Center. Between the years 2009 and 2011 he was designated to strap in the crew, closing and sealing access hatches for any flight take-offs from NASA. These were the duties of the Closeout Crew that he was part of. Between the year 2014 and 2015, he worked as the chief of Extravehicular Activity and in 2015 he was appointed as the Deputy Chief of Astronaut Office. After working for four months he became the 14th Deputy Chief of the Astronauts Office. He was in charge of several flight tasks and mission prep-work.

How long has Chris Cassidy been in space? 

Chris Cassidy acted as the Mission Specialist aboard the Endeavour during his International Space Station assembly mission 2J/A. Cassidy was the 500th person to go into space to deliver spare parts and batteries and other items for the international space station. Currently, he is onboard the ISS since Expedition 63’s launch in April 2020. Cassidy is completing almost two months in the space as of June 2020. He has completed several spacewalks in his time in space.

Chris Cassidy's awards and honours 

As per the official website of NASA, Cassidy has received several awards and honours:

• “Honor graduate of Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL (BUD/S) Class 192.
• Awarded the Bronze Star with combat ‘V’ and, Presidential Unit Citation for leading a nine-day operation at the Zharwar Kili cave complex on the Afghanistan/Pakistan border. 
• Guest speaker at the U.S. Naval Academy Combat Leadership Seminar, 2003 & 2004. 
• Awarded a second Bronze Star for combat leadership service in Afghanistan, 2004. 
• Recipient of NASA Exceptional Achievement Medal. A finisher in the Ironman World Championship triathlon in Kona, Hawaii, 2014." 

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