Her hands shook when she got the call, the excitement so overwhelming it briefly kept her from calling her parents to give them the news.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After learning in 2017<\/a> that she was accepted to join NASA\u2019s astronaut candidate class, Lt. Col. Jasmin Moghbeli felt her long desired dream of exploring the stars becoming a reality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cA lot of my time in the Marine Corps, I think, is what set me up for this experience,\u201d she told Military Times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n After years of training, the Marine test pilot-turned-astronaut<\/a> will serve as the commander of NASA\u2019s upcoming SpaceX Crew-7 mission to the International Space Station. The research mission is currently slated to launch August 17, according to Steve Stich, program manager of the commercial crew program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The trip will be Moghbeli\u2019s first to space. She follows in the footsteps of those like Col. Nicole Mann, another Marine test pilot who traded in her military flight suit for a space suit and led the SpaceX Crew-5 mission that launched in October 2022<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Many of the commercial crew missions have or are slated to be led by a current or former service member. In addition to those endeavors, other military personnel will soon be finding themselves leaving Earth\u2019s atmosphere. In April, NASA announced a pair of Navy captains will command and pilot the Artemis II lunar mission<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\t