NASA introduced to the world on Aug. 3, 2018, the first U.S. astronauts who will fly on American-made, commercial spacecraft to and from the International Space Station – an endeavor that will return astronaut launches to U.S. soil for the first time since the space shuttle’s retirement in 2011. The agency assigned nine astronauts to crew the first test flight and mission of both Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner and SpaceX’s Crew Dragon. The astronauts are, from left to right: Sunita Williams, Josh Cassada, Eric Boe, Nicole Mann, Christopher Ferguson, Douglas Hurley, Robert Behnken, Michael Hopkins and Victor Glover. Credits: NASA
NASA has assigned a team of nine astronauts to take part in a commercial mission in the coming years to fly on spaceships developed by both Boeing and SpaceX.
NASA officials announced on Aug. 3 the names of the astronauts that will fly on an American-made commercial spacecraft to and from the International Space Station (ISS) on mission that will return astronaut launches to U.S. soil for the first time since the space shuttle program’s retirement in 2011.
“Today, our country’s dreams of greater achievements in space are within our grasp,” NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine said in a statement. “This accomplished group of American astronauts, flying on new spacecraft developed by our commercial partners Boeing and SpaceX, will launch a new era of human spaceflight. Today’s announcement advances our great American vision and strengthens the nation’s leadership in space.”
NASA assigned astronauts to crew the first test flight and mission of both Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner and SpaceX’s Crew Dragon. NASA will work closely with both companies throughout the design, development and testing phases to ensure the systems meet NASA’s safety and performance standards.
“The men and women we assign to these first flights are at the forefront of this exciting new time for human spaceflight,” Mark Geyer, director of NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, said in a statement. “It will be thrilling to see our astronauts lift off from American soil, and we can’t wait to see them aboard the International Space Station.”
According to the NASA website, both the Boeing test flight and SpaceX test flight are expected to take place in 2019. Each company will also conduct an unscrewed test mission prior to the test flights.
“This was above and beyond the NASA requirement in the contract,” Kathy Lueders, Commercial Crew Program manager at NASA Kennedy, said in a statement. “Both partners said they really wanted to have an uncrewed flight test to make sure the integrated rockets, spacecraft and re-entry systems are all working as designed to be able to ensure the integrated system is functioning.”
The new spaceflight capability, which is provided by Boeing and SpaceX, will allow NASA to maintain a crew of seven astronauts on the ISS and maximize science research that enables technology demonstrations in biology, biotechnology, Earth and space science, human health and physical sciences.
The two aerospace giants will each conduct a crewed test flight called the Orbital Flight Test for Boeing and Demo-1 for SpaceX before NASA begins their final certification process for the regular crew missions to ISS. NASA has contracted six missions, with as many as four astronauts per mission, for each company.
The Starliner mission will launch aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket from the Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.
The Starliner test flight astronauts include Eric Boe, a former Air force test pilot who became an astronaut in 2000, Christopher Ferguson, a retired Navy captain, who retired from NASA in 2011 and has been an integral part of Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner program, and Nicole Aunapu Mann, a lieutenant colonel in the Marine Corps, who will be making her first trip to space.
The first mission astronauts include Josh Cassada, a former Navy commander and test pilot, who has been an astronaut since 2013 and Sunita Williams, also a Navy test pilot who became an astronaut in 1998.
The Crew Dragon will launch aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Complex 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
The astronauts for the Crew Dragon test mission include Robert Behnken, a flight test engineer and colonel in the Air Force who joined the astronaut corps in 2000 and Douglas Hurley, a former test pilot and colonel in the Marine Corps who joined NASA in 2000.
Flying on the regular mission will be Victor Glover, a Navy commander will make his first spaceflight after becoming an astronaut in 2013 and Michael Hopkins, a former colonel in the Air Force who became an astronaut in 2009.
Additional crewmembers will be assigned by NASA’s international partners at a later date.
