Southern Missouri native going to space

On a farm near southern Missouri’s Richland, Mike Hopkins grew up watching with fascination as astronauts rocketed into space. America’s space shuttle program inspired him to want to reach for the stars. Today, Hopkins is commander of a four-person crew scheduled to launch into space on October 31 and head to the International Space Station.

He will be aboard the same spacecraft that St. Louis County native Bob Behnken blasted off to space in earlier this year. Hopkins and his four-person crew will live aboard the International Space Station until roughly the end of next April. The space station spans the area of an American football field and weighs in at more than 861,000 pounds, not including visiting vehicles.