NASA recently launched three new crew members to the International Space Station. Interestingly, according to a report by Yahoo News, one of the crew member is an American grandfather who according to NASA is still fit to perform the duties of an astronaut despite his age.

Crewmates Oleg Skripochka and Alexey Ovchinin of Russia along with Jeff Williams left for the space station last Saturday. Just two hours after launching they reached their destination. NASA subsequently tweeted

"Welcome to @Space_Station! Hatches are opened and the crew onboard grows from 3 to 6 members,"

The three new crew members will be joining Tim Kopra, Russian cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko and the European Space Agency's British astronaut Tim Peake at the ISS to continue Expedition 47.

According to NASA the astronauts will be conducting over 250 science investigations during their 5 month stay in space. The experiments include the testing of the possible effects of a large fire in space Moreover, the team will also be conducting research on the behaviour of the soil in micro gravity as well as the testing of a gripping device when used in harsh space conditions.

After this exploration, Williams would be surpassing Kelly's record of staying in space for over a year. Williams would have a record of 534 days by time his half year exploration ends. He would be subsequently hold the record for "the American with the most cumulative days in space - 534,"

During a live broadcast in NASA tv Williams expressed his excitement being back in space. According to the space veteran, he is still at awe with the extent of the achievements technology has made throughout the years.

 "Can't believe we just left the planet and we're here already," gushed Williams as reported by ABC.

Besides being the American with the most days spent in space Williams is also now consider as "the first American to be a three-time, long-term ISS resident." According to the US agency.

Williams have flown aboard the space shuttle Atlantis in 2000. He returned to the space station in 2006. He then served as a flight engineer and later commander of the International Space Station in his return trip in 2009 and 2010.