Introducing the Astronauts of Crew-11: On Their Journey to the Space Station

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. – Four space travelers are preparing for departure to the International Space Station.

SpaceX is targeting a July 31 launch for Crew-11.

Just like members who made up Crew-10, the team consists of two NASA astronauts, a JAXA astronaut and a Roscosmos cosmonaut.

SpaceX’s Crew-11 mission represents the 11th rotation of its human spaceflight system and the 12th manned mission, counting the Demo-2 test, to the International Space Station under NASA’s Commercial Crew Program.

The Crew-11 team will carry out scientific experiments and technology tests aimed at gearing up for future lunar missions and providing advantages to life on Earth.

Get to know the members who make up Crew-11.

Commander Zena Cardman

NASA selected Lena Cardman in 2017 as part of the “Turtles” astronaut cohort. Originating from Virginia, she holds a bachelor’s degree in biology and a master’s in marine sciences from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Her studies focused on geobiology and geochemical processes occurring in subsurface settings, such as caves and deep-sea sediments.

Cardman has participated in several Antarctic expeditions. After completing her initial training, she supported real-time station operations and lunar surface exploration planning. She is currently the commander of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-11 mission to the International Space Station, where she will join Expeditions 73 and 74 for a long-duration science mission aboard the orbiting laboratory.

Cardman will conduct her first spaceflight with Crew-11.

Edward Michael “Mike” Fincke, Pilot

Logging 382 days in orbit, this will be Mike Fincke’s fourth trip to space as part of the Crew-11 mission.

Fincke did nine spacewalks during Expedition 9 in 2004, Expedition 18 in 2008, and STS-134 in 2011, the final flight of space shuttle Endeavour.

Over the past decade, Fincke has contributed his expertise to NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, helping advance the development and testing of the SpaceX Dragon and Boeing Starliner toward operational certification.

A native of Emsworth, Pennsylvania, he is a distinguished graduate of the U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School. Fincke holds bachelor’s degrees in aeronautics and astronautics, and earth, atmospheric and planetary sciences from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge.

He also earned a master’s degree in aeronautics and astronautics from Stanford University in California. A retired U.S. Air Force colonel, Fincke has logged more than 2,000 flight hours in over 30 different aircraft.

Kimiya Yui, Mission Specialist

With 142 days in space, this will be Yui’s second mission to the space station.

Selected as a JAXA astronaut in 2009, he served as a flight engineer for Expedition 44/45 and became the first Japanese astronaut to capture JAXA’s H-II Transfer Vehicle. During his mission, Yui helped build a new experimental environment aboard Kibo and conducted 21 experiments for JAXA.

In November 2016, he was named chief of the JAXA Astronaut Group. Yui graduated from the School of Science and Engineering at the National Defense Academy of Japan in 1992. He later joined the Air Self-Defense Force at the Japan Defense Agency, now the Ministry of Defense, and in 2008, he served as a lieutenant colonel in the Air Staff Office at the Ministry of Defense.

Oleg Platonov, Mission Specialist

The Crew-11 mission will mark Oleg Platonov’s first spaceflight.

Before being selected as a cosmonaut in 2018, he earned an engineering degree in aircraft operations and air traffic management from the Krasnodar Air Force Academy. In 2016, he also received a bachelor’s degree in state and municipal management from Far Eastern Federal University in Vladivostok, Russia.

Assigned as a test cosmonaut in 2021, Platonov has experience piloting aircraft, zero-gravity training, scuba diving, and wilderness survival.