A South Windsor, Connecticut native and a veteran astronaut from northern Maine are now living and working together aboard the International Space Station, part of a growing new era of public-private space exploration.
Jack Hathaway, who graduated from South Windsor High School before becoming a Navy pilot and NASA astronaut, is serving on his first space mission as part of Expedition 74. Sharing the mission with him is Jessica Meir, a Caribou, Maine native who has already spent more than 200 days in space and helped make history during the first all-female spacewalk.
Their mission comes as NASA increasingly partners with private aerospace companies like Elon Musk’s SpaceX, which now transports astronauts and cargo to the station using its Dragon spacecraft system. Hathaway referenced that partnership while describing the moment his launch finally felt real.
“That moment when we got into the Tesla [product of company founded by Space-X founder Elon Musk] and we drove to the rocket, and you're like, all right, this is real. We're in spacesuits. We are in the car. We’re going to the launch pad,” Hathaway said. “Such an incredible journey.”
The broader mission involves scientific research aboard the International Space Station while also helping NASA prepare for future deep space exploration missions, including planned returns to the moon and eventual missions to Mars.
A veteran guiding a rookie crew
For Meir, this mission differs sharply from her first trip to space.
“My role has really changed this time,” Meir said. “As the experienced one on board, I've taken over in kind of a mentorship role.”
She said watching first-time astronauts experience weightlessness and see Earth from orbit for the first time has become one of the mission’s most rewarding aspects.
“Those first moments in weightlessness, those first moments looking back on our planet, they are simply extraordinary,” Meir said.
Different paths, shared mission
Hathaway arrived at NASA through military aviation, while Meir built her career through scientific research. Both astronauts said those differing perspectives strengthen teamwork aboard the station.
“We actually have more in common than we do differently,” Hathaway said. “That’s really one of the great things about the International Space Station, that we can all come together despite these small differences and accomplish a really great mission for all humanity.”
Meir said research consistently shows diverse teams perform better under pressure.
“If we're presented with a new problem or a challenge, having different ways of thinking and different experiences in our past really helps us consider all sides of it,” she said.
Life in orbit
The astronauts described daily life aboard the station as both strange and joyful.
“Nothing can really prepare you for being able to let something go and it doesn't fall,” Meir said, describing the challenge of adjusting to a truly three-dimensional environment in zero gravity.
Hathaway offered another detail about life in orbit that amuses him.
“Astronauts don't wear shoes,” he said. “We just wear socks all the time because we don't want to kick any of the equipment.”
“Better socks than others,” Meir joked.
“She does have a better sock game than I do,” Hathaway replied.
Keeping New England close
Both astronauts said they look for chances to photograph their home regions whenever the station passes overhead.
“Every time we get to fly over New England, there is sometimes a little bit of a battle for the window to take the best picture,” Hathaway said.
Meir said connecting with people back home matters because it helps young people see themselves in the astronauts they watch from Earth.
“If you're from their hometown, if there's some other thing that they can resonate with about you, it helps people understand that really anything is possible,” Meir said.
A new era of space exploration
Meir described the current moment in spaceflight as one of the most exciting periods since the Apollo era, with multiple spacecraft, private companies and lunar missions all expanding human access to space.
“We are really at an incredibly exciting time,” Meir said. “One that I would say we've not been at since 50 years ago, since the original Apollo missions.”
She pointed to NASA’s Artemis moon program, commercial spaceflight companies and future Mars ambitions as signs that exploration is accelerating rapidly.
Hathaway said he recently spoke with students of South Windsor High School and other schools around the country, and he believes enthusiasm among young people suggests the next generation of explorers is already preparing to follow.
“There is a lot, a lot of excitement and passion about human spaceflight and about exploring the unknown,” Hathaway said. “There are untold number of people behind us that are ready to write their own chapters in the future.”
