Her father, Kamran (Kamy) Moghbeli, was an architect who immigrated to Germany in 1980 from Tehran, Iran.[5] He and his family lived in Bad Nauheim, where Jasmin was born, until the beginning of 1984 when they immigrated to the United States.[6] Her mother is Fereshta (Fery) Moghbeli.[5] Moghbeli has an older brother,[7] Kaveh, specialist in pulmonary and intensive care medicine.[6]
Moghbeli speaks Persian,[8] English, and learned Russian during her astronaut training.[9][10]
As of 2019[update], she has accumulated over 2,000 hours of flight time and flown in 150 combat missions, including sorties in Afghanistan.[12]
NASA career
In June 2017, Moghbeli was selected as a member of NASA Astronaut Group 22, and subsequently began her two-year training.[16]
In January 2020, she graduated alongside 13 others in the NASA Astronaut Candidate Training Program, officially making her "eligible for spaceflight, including assignments to the International Space Station, Artemis missions to the Moon, and ultimately, missions to Mars".[17]
In March 2022, she was assigned as commander of the SpaceX Crew-7 mission to the International Space Station. The mission, her first flight in space, launched to the space station on August 26, 2023.[18] On March 12, 2024, the mission landed off the coast of Florida after spending 199 days in space and orbiting the Earth 3,184 times.[19]
Personal life
Moghbeli is married to Sam Wald. They are the parents of twin girls.[20] Wald is Jewish,[21] and they celebrate both Christmas and Hanukkah at home; Moghbeli celebrated Hanukkah in space as well.[22]
She is proud of her American and Persian heritage, noting: "Reflecting on this past year, I stand here so proud of my Persian heritage but also incredibly proud to be an American."[8] She still celebrates Nowruz (Persian New Year).[8][23]
Space exploration was an aspiration for Moghbeli as a child. During school, she wrote a sixth-grade book report on the first woman in space, Soviet cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova.[24]
^Wright, Robin (July 2, 2017). "Jasmin Moghbeli, Badass Astronaut". The New Yorker. Archived from the original on April 15, 2023. Retrieved January 18, 2019 – via www.newyorker.com.
