The four members of the Axiom Mission 4 hail from the U.S., India, Hungary and Poland and will travel on Space X Crew Dragon spaceship in a joint mission by NASA and the European Space Agency, ESA.
Three of the astronauts held a news conference on Wednesday and said they were having the time of their lives training hard for their travel as well as preparing for the medical and technological experiments they will conduct during the nearly two weeks they will spend there.
ESA head, Josef Aschbacher stressed that space research was "strategic" for many reasons, including security.
Crew members will take items of national and personal significance.
Mission commander, U.S. astronaut Peggy Whitson, who has rich experience in space travel, is taking the necklace that she wore during her wedding, along with the pictures of the crew and her family.
Poland's Slawosz Uznanski-Wisniewski is taking Polish traditional pierogi, or dumplings, along with poems by W...