NASA Selects 1st Astronauts For Commercial Crew Program

Hey Space Placers!

A temporary break from New Horizons to Pluto today.

NASA

NASA has announced the 1st four astronauts to be assigned to the Commercial Crew Program to fly the Boeing CST-100 and SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft to the International Space Station beginning in 2017. Be sure to watch the video to hear Bob, Eric, Doug and Sunni's reaction to their historic assignment.

All 4 are veteran astronauts having flown in space previously and will use their collective experience to help finalize the spacecraft and prepare and train for their flights. This marks the first flight assignment for U.S. astronauts to fly into space on U.S. spacecraft since the space shuttle was retired in 2011.

Boeing's CST-100 is slated for the 1st flight.

This is a VERY big step indeed for NASA's return to using American hardware for manned spaceflight.

Sky Guy in STILL Cloudy VA