Although it is not the first time the Paternò-born astronaut will be in the International Space Station (ISS), the 'Beyond' mission will be unprecedented. In 2013, he spent 166 days in space during his first mission, 'Volare', after being selected from of 8,413 astronauts.

This time, he will spend six months at the ISS and will be accompanied by NASA astronaut Andrew Morgan and Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexander Skvortsov. The three are scheduled to board a Soyuz MS-13 (59S) spacecraft on July 20, the 50th anniversary of the lunar landing Apollo 11, the day humans first set foot on the moon.