NASA says that you’ll need to be a US citizen with either a master’s degree in a STEM field or an equivalent, such as two years of work toward the doctorate in your field, a medical doctorate or the combination of a completed test pilot school program (finished by June 2021) with a STEM bachelor’s degree. You’ll also need real-world experience that includes either two years of “progressively responsible” work experience or 1,000 flight hours as a pilot in command. And did we mention that you’ll have to pass a long-duration spaceflight physical?

If you do pass muster, though, it’s a big opportunity. Barring any changes in plans, the next two decades at NASA will be dominated by lunar and martian expeditions. And even if you don’t go, this is the first call for astronauts in over four years. It’s a chance to be part of a very small club that has ventured beyond Earth, even if you don’t go further than the International Space Station.

This won’t be the longest spaceflight of all time. Scott Kelly set the US record by staying in space for 340 consecutive days between 2015 and 2016, while Russia’s Valeri Polyakov spent just over 437 days aboard Mir. It’s still a very long stretch, however, and it comes on the back of Koch joining fellow astronaut Jessica Meir in NASA’s first all-female spacewalk this October.

The extended trip isn’t just about bragging rights. Koch’s longer-than-planned mission should tell NASA more about the effects of long-term spaceflight on the human body. That, in turn, could be vital for the return to the Moon as well as eventual plans to touch down on Mars. What sacrifices Koch has made could pay off if they ensure that explorers come back healthy.

What it looks like from @Space_Station when your best friend achieves her lifelong dream to go to space. Caught the second stage in progress! We can’t wait to welcome you onboard, crew of Soyuz 61! pic.twitter.com/Ws7tInY58P

— Christina H Koch (@Astro_Christina) September 25, 2019

The photo shows the curling smoke plumes from the first stage liftoff and another mini-plume from the second stage trajectory. The spacecraft’s second-stage engine is clearly visible as a bright point, with rays of illuminated smoke extending from the center. The craft is encircled by a ring of vapor, also likely created by the second-stage engine.

Koch didn’t say which camera she used, but it’s probably the station’s workhorse Nikon D4 that she’s been pictured with before. Koch is an avid photographer, and wisely stopped down the photo to correctly capture the rocket’s plume and atmosphere against the night sky. Because of the reduced exposure level, no stars are visible, but they appear when you crank it up in Lightroom.

Soyuz 61 carried Meir, cosmonaut Oleg Skripochka and the first space traveler from the United Arab Emirates, Hazzaa Ali Almansoori. Meir and Skripochka will spend six months aboard the ISS, but Almansoori will spend just eight days there under an intergovernmental contract between the UAE and Roscosmos. He’ll return to Earth on October 3rd aboard the same Soyuz craft along with current ISS residents Nick Hague and station commander Alexey Ovchinin.

Koch, meanwhile, will stay aboard the ISS until February 2020, which will make her the longest serving female astronaut aboard the ISS. Luckily, she’ll have some company — shortly after snapping the photo, Koch got to hug her best friend (below).

The mission is a relatively routine one, but symbolizes how much spaceflight and the US space program have changed in half a century, for better or for worse. In 1969, the US and Russia were the only two countries to have sent people into space — while they’re still dominant, it’s now common for people from other nations to make the journey. The first space station, Russia’s Salyut 1, hadn’t reached orbit 50 years ago, but the present-day ISS has been in service for nearly 21 years. And the use of a Russian Soyuz rocket is emblematic of both greater international cooperation (however tentative it may be) and the gap in US spaceflight capabilities until the Space Launch System is hopefully ready in 2020.

An actual trip to the Moon will have to wait until 2024, when NASA hopes to once again put people on the lunar surface through its Artemis program. The timing isn’t ideal, then. All the same, it’s good to know that humanity isn’t staying on terra firma during such an important historic milestone.

The scientists can tweak the intensity of the centrifugal force as well as decide whether to spin around a person’s head or chest, but it’s not clear just what will work. That’s partly what the experiment is for — they’ll have a better sense of what gravitational effects would be necessary to prevent muscles from weakening.

Whatever the conclusions, you probably won’t see 2001-style rotating habitats any time soon. You’re likely to see something resulting from studies like this, however. If humanity is going to embark on trips to Mars or send more than a handful of people into orbit for extended periods, it will likely want some kind of simulated gravity to maintain the fitness of future spacefarers.

Toyota is going to the moon. The Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) has teamed up with the carmaker to build a pressurized self-driving rover that will land on the lunar surface in 2029. The six-wheeled transporter will be able to carry two humans for a distance of 10,000 kilometers using solar power and Toyota‘s fuel cell technology. The rover will be about the size of two minibuses, with 13 square meters of habitable space, and the astronauts on board will be able to take their suits off inside the vehicle as they explore. It will land on the moon before the human expedition arrives, and travel independently to meet them.