An astronaut who earned a master's degree from Colorado State University is being launched into space to manage scientific experiments on the International Space Station, which will help determine whether astronauts are physically fit for travel to Mars. Today Kjkell Lindgren, who is a specialist in aerospace medicine,  will be a flight engineer for NASA Expedition 44/45 to the International Space Station.

Lindgren will serve for six months as one of five flight engineers on the upcoming NASA mission. He will fly to the space station with a Russian cosmonaut and an astronaut from Japan aboard a Soyuz rocket launched from Kazakhstan. Three astronauts will greet them when they arrive.

Lindgren earned a bachelor’s degree in biology from the U.S. Air Force Academy and a master’s degree in cardiovascular physiology from CSU. He also attended medical school at the University of Colorado.

See the Launch Live

Lindgren’s launch is scheduled for today (Wednesday, July 22) at 3:02 p.m. Live coverage will be provided on NASA TV.

This YouTube video shows Lindgren when he paid a visit to CSU:

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