93.9 The Eagle – The News and Talk of Columbia, MO
A Missouri man is part of space travel history.
Mike Hopkins was one of four astronauts who left Earth on Sunday night, bound for the International Space Station. Hopkins was born in Lebanon (LEB-uh-nin), Missouri, and grew up on a farm outside Richland. He graduated from Osage High School.
St. Louis area native Bob Behnken was on the first SpaceX flight in May.
More from The Associated Press:
Four astronauts are in orbit and on their way to the International Space Station. Their launch Sunday night by SpaceX kicks off regular crew flights from the U.S. The Falcon rocket thundered into the night from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The Dragon capsule carrying three Americans and one Japanese is due to reach the orbiting outpost late Monday and will remain there until spring. The astronauts named their capsule Resilience in light of the coronavirus pandemic and other hardships of 2020. SpaceX chief executive Elon Musk was sidelined by the virus himself. He says he “most likely” has a moderate case of COVID-19.
