Meet NASA Astronaut Zena Cardman, Crew-11 Commander

NASA astronaut Zena Cardman is the commander of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-11 mission. This is her first spaceflight. Upon her arrival to the International Space Station, she became an Expedition 73/74 flight engineer, kicking off a long-duration science expedition aboard the orbiting laboratory. She was selected by NASA as a member of the 2017 “Turtles” astronaut class. The Virginia native holds a bachelor of science in Biology and a master of science in Marine Sciences from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Her research focused primarily on geobiology and geochemical cycling in subsurface environments, from caves to deep sea sediments. Cardman’s experience includes multiple Antarctic expeditions. Since completing initial training, Cardman has supported real-time station operations and lunar surface exploration planning.

What is said in the film

I think in a lot of ways, science and exploration is just innate to us as human beings. That's why toddlers ask so many “why” questions. It's just part of who we are. In many ways, I think trying to explore space generates solutions to problems that we didn't even know we had. My name is Zena Cardman, and I am the Commander of NASA's SpaceX Crew-11 mission to the International Space Station.

I was born in Champaign-Urbana, Illinois, but I grew up in Williamsburg, Virginia. I grew up almost like an only child. I have two older brothers, but the younger of the two actually went off to college when I was five years old. And so I learned to play in my backyard a lot, play with friends, use my imagination, and explore the natural world around me. I studied biology as an undergraduate student.

This is largely because I had a really excellent high school biology teacher who inspired me to pursue research on my own, even as a high school student. But while I was at college, I also got to know, microbiology. I got to know geosciences and chemistry. I wound up doing a lot of research in oceanography, marine sciences department and studying in remote locations like Antarctica. I also, while I was an undergraduate, became a creative writing minor.

And I've always really valued that chance to study the creative side of my brain and explore our natural world through that side as well. I love being an astronaut right now because there are many pathways to get to the international Space Station. We spend long duration periods, so, many months long living and working on board that space station, and it's really focused on research. A lot of that research is on our home planet, and a lot of that research is on us as human subjects. I'm very excited to be actually a test subject for a lot of the medical research that we're doing on board the ISS.

I've signed up for a very large, all encompassing medical study called CIPHER, and this, I think, is going to be critical as we start thinking about going for longer durations and farther and places like the Moon and Mars. My role as commander is to bring out the best in my crewmates, From the moment we start training until the moment we get back to Earth and then some. And so I'm always thinking about that larger mission overview and how my crewmates are doing and what we can do for each other. Spaceflight by definition, requires collaboration and requires more than one person, and the chance to be part of something much larger than myself has been humbling and inspiring and deeply fulfilling. Even since I was a child, looking up at the stars, looking up at the cosmos is inspiring.

It helps me answer questions like, what are we doing here? Who are we? Where are we? I don't think we grow if we don't challenge ourselves. I think that's true for myself.

It's true for teams, and it's true for us as a society and as a species. We have to take some risks. We have to challenge ourselves in order to push ourselves. And I can't wait to see what we discover during my career and for generations to come.

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