Barron joins NASA astronauts Raja Chari and Tom Marshburn, and European Space Agency astronaut Matthias Maurer, who had been assigned to Crew-3 last December.
NASA has selected the fourth astronaut to join the next human spaceflight mission to the International Space Station.
The space agency announced it has tapped Kayla Barron to serve as a mission specialist for SpaceXs next Crew Dragon launch, which is slated for October 23. Barron joins NASA astronauts Raja Chari and Tom Marshburn, and European Space Agency astronaut Matthias Maurer, who had been assigned to Crew-3 last December.
It will be Barrons first spaceflight as she recently became a NASA astronaut in January 2020. She will be the only female space explorer among the missions international crew.
Barron has a bachelors degree in systems engineering from the US Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland and continued her studies to obtain her masters degree in nuclear engineering from the University of Cambridge in England as a Gates Cambridge Scholar.
Crew-3 members will begin their six-month stay as Crew-2 is wrapping up their final days on the ISS. For now, Crew-2 is slated to return to Earth no earlier than October 31.
