NASA has introduced the astronauts who will fly the first private spacecraft

The astronauts are: Sunita Williams, Josh Casada, Eric Bowe, Nicole Mann, Christopher Ferguson, Douglas Hurley, Robert Behnken, Michael Hopkins and Victor Glover

NASA introduced to the world yesterday (Friday) the first American astronauts who will fly on commercial American spacecraft to and from the International Space Station, an operation that will return manned launches to space from US soil for the first time since the retirement of the space shuttles in 2011.

"Today, our country's dreams of greater achievements in space are within our reach," said NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine. "This group of American astronauts, who will fly in new spacecraft developed by our commercial partners Boeing and SpaceX, will launch a new era of manned space travel. Today's announcement advances our great American vision and strengthens our leadership in space." Although Brindstein refers to a very distant period in the past, when the US was a leader in space.

The agency assigned nine astronauts to the first flight crews of each of the spacecraft - Boeing's Starliner CST-100 and SpaceX's Dragon. NASA works closely with the companies in all aspects of design, development and testing to ensure that the systems meet NASA's safety and performance requirements.
"The men and women we are assigning to these first flights are at the forefront of an exciting new era of manned spaceflight," said Mark Geyer, director of NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston. "It will be exciting to see our astronauts lift off from American soil, and we can't wait to see them on the International Space Station."

The Starliner test pilots

Eric Beau was born in Miami and grew up in Atlanta. He came to NASA from the Air Force, where he was a fighter and test pilot and rose to the rank of lieutenant colonel. He was selected as an astronaut in 2000 and flew on the space shuttles Endeavor on mission STS-126 and Discovery on its final flight, STS-133.

Christopher Ferguson is a native of Philadelphia. He is a lieutenant colonel (captain) in the US Navy, who flew the space shuttle Atlantis on mission STS-115, and commanded the shuttles Endeavor on flight STS-126 and the last mission of Atlantis, STS-135. He retired from NASA in 2011 and moved to the CST-100 spacecraft design team of Boeing's Starliner program.

Nicole Onpo Mann is a native of California and a lieutenant colonel in the Marine Corps. She served as a test pilot in F/A-18 aircraft and accumulated more than 2,500 flight hours in more than 25 aircraft. Mann was selected as an astronaut in 2013. This will be her first journey into space.
Boeing will launch the spacecraft using ULA's Atlas V launcher followed by Launch 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Base.

The test pilots of SpaceX's manned Dragon spacecraft

Robert Benken lives in St. Ann, Missouri. He has a doctorate in engineering and is a flight test engineer with the rank of colonel in the Air Force. He was an astronaut in 2000 and aboard the shuttle Endeavor twice, on missions STS-123 and STS-130, during which he performed six spacewalks totaling more than 37 hours.

Douglas Hurley of Appalachian, New York was a test pilot and colonel in the Marine Corps before coming to NASA in 2000 to become an astronaut. He flew on the shuttle Endeavor on mission STS-127 and on the shuttle Atlantis on mission STS-135, the final mission of the space shuttles.

SpaceX will launch the Dragon crew will launch aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Complex 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

After each company successfully completes its test flight, NASA will begin the final process of certifying the spacecraft and systems for regular crew missions to the space station. The agency has signed six missions, each of which will fly four astronauts for each company.
, with four as astronauts per mission, for each company.

The first Starliner expedition

Josh Casada grew up in White Bear Lake, Minnesota. He is a Navy Commander and a test pilot with more than 3,500 flight hours in more than forty aircraft. He was selected as an astronaut in 2013. This will be his first space flight.

On the other hand, Sunita Williams is a veteran astronaut. Williams came to NASA from the Navy, where she was a test pilot and rose to the rank of captain before retiring. Since her selection as an astronaut in 1998, she spent 322 days on the International Space Station in the 14/15 and 32/33 crews, commanded the space station and performed seven spacewalks.

First Dragon Mission Team

Victor Glover is from Pomona, California and came from the US Navy. He served as a test pilot in which he accumulated 3,000 flight hours in more than forty different aircraft. When he served in aircraft matters he made 24 combat sorties. He was selected as an astronaut candidate in 2013, and this will be his first space flight.

Michael Hopkins of Richland, Missouri. He is a colonel in the Air Force, where he served as a flight test engineer before being selected as a NASA astronaut in 2009. He spent 166 days on the International Space Station in Crew 37/38, and conducted two spacewalks.

Additional crew members will be assigned by NASA's international partners at a later date. As you may remember, when the new head of NASA Brendenstein visited Israel about a month ago, Science Minister Ofir Akunis asked him to arrange for the launch of a second Israeli astronaut, but of course, it will no longer be on these flights. The US has a much more senior partnership than Israel with astronauts who spent long periods in space, mainly on behalf of the European Space Agency.

For a message on the NASA website

More of the topic in Hayadan:

• There is no substitute for human activity in space
• Boeing and SpaceX win NASA tender to fly astronauts to the space station
• Why is the space shuttle era ending? (Article from 2011)
• The space missions of 2018: from the world's most powerful launcher to the successor to the Kepler space telescope
• 2017: SpaceX's incredible year