It’s not every day that an astronaut invites you to Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, to work with and film them training. But that’s exactly what Randy “Komrade” Bresnik did for the STEM in 30 team. In the following months we’ll be sharing his journey with you as he travels to the International Space Station (ISS) on Expeditions 52 and 53.

Our video series, ISS Science, will focus on different aspects of Bresnik’s journey and will feature interviews with Bresnik, a classroom demonstration, and a lesson plan designed for middle school educators to use in their classrooms.

Bresnik will travel to the ISS on Friday, July 28, via a Russian Soyuz spacecraft launched from Kazakhstan. He will become the first Marine to command the ISS and is scheduled to spend approximately six months aboard the ISS before returning to Earth in December.

Bresnik, a U.S. Marine Corps colonel and fighter pilot, was selected in 2004 to be a part of NASA’s 19th astronaut class. His first mission to space was STS-129 where he served as a mission specialist. He operated Space Shuttle Atlantis during this mission and spent nearly 11 days in space.