A Bruton High School graduate is about to get her wish of traveling to outer space.

NASA astronaut Zena Cardman has been announced as commander of NASA's SpaceX Crew-11, which is headed to the International Space Station later this summer.

This will be the first space flight for Cardman, who was first selected as a NASA astronaut in 2017. She will be among four crew members from three different space agencies who are slated to head to the space station in July for a long-duration assignment of about eight months.

"This is such an honor," Cardman said in a phone interview on Monday. "I've been training many, many years at this point. Getting to know and work with the other members of this crew has been a real treat."

After graduating from York County's Bruton High, Cardman, 37, earned a bachelor's degree in biology and a master's in marine sciences from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She was in the middle of pursuing a doctorate degree in geosciences from the Pennsylvania State University when she was selected to the astronaut program. She spent two years in basic training to become an astronaut candidate and has since been supporting real-time station operations and lunar surface exploration planning.

Cardman was previously a backup crew member for the SpaceX Crew-9 mission, but according to NASA, she was reassigned to Crew-11 in overall support of planned activities aboard the space station. For the past few months, she's been preparing for the SpaceX Crew-11 mission, which will launch into space on a Dragon spacecraft.

Joining Cardman on the mission are pilot Mike Fincke, JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Mission Specialist Kimiya Yui and Roscosmos cosmonaut Mission Specialist Oleg Platonov. As commander of the flight, Cardman will lead the crew.

"I will be bringing out the best in my crew mates, which won't be a problem because they are all so easy to work with," she said. "This has been such a rewarding and fulfilling experience."

Cardman and the other crew members will conduct scientific investigations and technology demonstrations to help prepare humans for future missions to the moon and beyond. Part of the research will focus on the impacts on the body while in space.

"I will be doing an experiment on myself," Cardman said. "It will be an interesting study on every aspect of human physiology."

Born in Illinois, Cardman grew up in the Williamsburg area, in the Queens Lake subdivision. As a child, Cardman said her mother would take her to view meteor showers at local parks. Later, science teachers and college professors would influence her decision to pursue becoming an astronaut.

Emil Davis, her high school biology teacher, remembers asking Cardman's freshman class what students wanted to be when they grew up.

Cardman answered "astrobiologist."

Davis describes Cardman as the "rare trifecta" of curious, motivated and brilliant. Back in high school, he talked with her about what she needed to do to reach her goal, such as looking at summer research internships and doing independent studies.

"She got started early on her astronaut journey," Davis recalled. "All I did was point. And let her read all the books I had regarding biology and evolution. Ripped through that whole library her junior or senior year as an independent study."

Cardman's experience prior to applying for the astronaut program includes research on microorganisms that inhabit caves and the deep sea floor. She's been to Antarctica and the Arctic on multiple occasions for various projects and also worked on research vessels and served on NASA analog missions.

Now, she's eagerly anticipating her first flight into space. She's invited Davis to be there for the launch.

"I don't know what to expect, but I have been dreaming of this for so long that I think I have a feeling at this point," she said. "I am excited to get to see the Earth from that vantage point, doing the research and working with the crew.

"It's really wonderful that I get to be a part of this. This is an endeavor that is greater than anything one individual can do and I'm looking forwarding to representing my crew, my hometown and my country during this mission."