Kjell Lindgren to make second trip into orbit as SpaceX Crew mission commander
TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Kjell Lindgren (林琪兒), a Taiwan-born American astronaut, has been chosen by NASA to command the "Crew Dragon" spacecraft that will fly to the International Space Station next year.
In a press release last week, the space agency announced that Lindgren, who is 48 years old, and Bob Hines, will serve as commander and pilot, respectively, for NASA's fourth SpaceX Crew mission. It said the duo would be the primary crew, while NASA's international partners will select additional members in the coming months.
According to NASA, the 2022 mission is part of its Commercial Crew Program to speed up the development of privately operated space vehicles to carry crews into low-Earth orbit. A Falcon 9 rocket will take the spacecraft from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, and the team is expected to join an expedition crew that will have already been aboard the space station for some time.
This will be Lindgren’s second trip into space, following a 141-day mission in 2015. The astronaut was born in Taipei to a Swedish-American father and a Taiwanese mother, and he spent two and a half years in Taiwan before moving to the U.K. and ultimately to the U.S.
Lindgren received his bachelor's degree in biology from the U.S. Air Force Academy, a master's degree in cardiovascular physiology from Colorado State University, and a medical degree from the University of Colorado. He was selected as an astronaut in 2009 and was chosen to be part of NASA's Artemis Team in 2020.
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