The four crew members of NASA's next space mission are getting ready for liftoff. They are scheduled to board a spaceship called the Crew Dragon at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on August 17 before spending about six months on the International Space Station.

Each member belongs to a space agency from a different part of the world. The mission's commander is American astronaut Jasmin Moghbeli. The pilot is Danish Andreas Mogensen from the European Space Agency. Serving as mission specialists are Konstantin Borisov of Russia's Roscosmos and Japan's Furukawa Satoshi.

They held a news conference on Tuesday at the Johnson Space Center in Texas. Moghbeli said one of the things they are proudest of is what they represent by being an "all international crew." Furukawa said he is happy to be a part of "this incredible team."

This will be Furukawa's second time on the ISS, after a stint in 2011. He will conduct experiments to see how extended stays in space affect the human body. He said his tests will prepare people for future expeditions to the Moon, Mars and beyond.