Skip to Content
Space

The first astronauts have been selected for a ride on commercial rockets

August 6, 2018

NASA has chosen the “Commercial Crew Nine”: the first humans who will go to space on rockets produced by private spaceflight companies.

Some background: The last time humans went to space from the US was July 2011, aboard the space shuttle Atlantis. Since then, every nation on Earth has relied on Russia to get to the International Space Station.

The news: On Friday, NASA revealed the nine astronauts that will fly on Boeing and SpaceX’s first crewed launches. Assuming the test flights go according to plan, Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley will be the first to fly on SpaceX’s Dragon in April 2019, and Eric Boe, Nicole Aunapu Mann, and Chris Ferguson will be the first people to fly aboard the Boeing Starliner in mid-2019.

It’s getting real: The test launches of these rockets will be some of the most anticipated since the end of the shuttle program—success would cement the private space industry in the annals of crewed space exploration.

This story first appeared in our daily tech newsletter, The Download. Sign up here.

Keep Reading

Most Popular

DeepMind’s cofounder: Generative AI is just a phase. What’s next is interactive AI.

“This is a profound moment in the history of technology,” says Mustafa Suleyman.

What to know about this autumn’s covid vaccines

New variants will pose a challenge, but early signs suggest the shots will still boost antibody responses.

Human-plus-AI solutions mitigate security threats

With the right human oversight, emerging technologies like artificial intelligence can help keep business and customer data secure

Next slide, please: A brief history of the corporate presentation

From million-dollar slide shows to Steve Jobs’s introduction of the iPhone, a bit of show business never hurt plain old business.

Stay connected

Illustration by Rose Wong

Get the latest updates from
MIT Technology Review

Discover special offers, top stories, upcoming events, and more.

Thank you for submitting your email!

Explore more newsletters

It looks like something went wrong.

We’re having trouble saving your preferences. Try refreshing this page and updating them one more time. If you continue to get this message, reach out to us at customer-service@technologyreview.com with a list of newsletters you’d like to receive.