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In honor of Anne C. McClain's return to space with NASA's Crew-10 mission, this week we're reposting our 2023 interview with her about her career and achieving her dreams. Safe journey to Anne and her crew, and we'll be watching and cheering!

NASA's Space-X Crew-10 mission, has a targeted launch time of 7:48 p.m. EDT on Wednesday, March 12th, according to NASA's website.

"It was a dream ever since I was little," says NASA Astronaut and U.S. Army Colonel Anne C. McClain, of her space career.

On March 12th, 2025, she's scheduled to experience the next chapter of that dream.

As the SpaceX Falcon 9 Rocket and Dragon spacecraft launch from Florida's Kennedy Space Center, Anne will be serving as commander of NASA's SpaceX Crew-10 mission to the International Space Station.

However, that's only one exciting aspect of her assignment.

Anne is one of eighteen astronauts selected for training for NASA's Artemis missions. Along with her colleagues, she is preparing, for NASA's return to the Moon and their ultimate goals: to establish a lunar outpost and prepare for human missions to Mars.

And there are no blueprints for the groundbreaking missions. Consequently, Anne and her colleagues are discovering what equipment and procedures will be needed for Artemis--which is very different from preparing to fly aboard the ISS.

"It's not just about training for space; it's figuring out what you need, to train for space," she explains.

The Crew-10 mission will be Anne's second spaceflight.

December, 2018, marked Anne's first launch, as flight engineer for ISS Missions 58 and 59. During her six months aboard the International Space Station, she served as the lead on two spacewalks.

Her journey to the stars

On the way to her ultimate goal of becoming an astronaut, Anne garnered numerous professional accomplishments and accolades.

Commissioned as an Army officer in 2002, she is a Master Army Aviator and Experimental Test Pilot. Her flight experience includes more than 2,000 hours in 20 different types of aircraft. Her professional honors include the Dennis Hart Mahan Memorial Award for excellence in Aeronautical Engineering, as well as Honorary Doctorates of Engineering from both the University of Bath and the University of Bristol.

And her NASA experience includes serving as an Instructor Astronaut in three different areas: Robotics, EVA, and CAPCOM.

During our 2023 conversation about her career and her spaceflight preparations, Anne shared, not only her story, but a great "blueprint" for anyone who would like to achieve their dreams