Image credit: DailySpace00
These are the astronauts who were chosen to fly the first missions of SpaceX's Dragon 2 and Boeing's Starliner. Most of them already have flight experience. Some have flown to space in different vehicles such as the Soyuz and the Space Shuttle, or have flown commercial or military aircraft.
Boeing Astronauts
Nicole Aunapu Mann
Nicole Victoria Aunapu Mann is an American test pilot and NASA astronaut. She is an F/A-18 Hornet pilot, and a graduate of the US Naval Academy, Stanford University and the US Naval Test Pilot School. She has over 2,500 flight hours in 25 types of aircraft, 200 carrier landings, and has flown 47 combat missions in Iraq and Afghanistan. Mann completed astronaut training in 2015 and was assigned in August 2018 to Boe-CFT, the first manned test flight of the Boeing CST-100 Starliner.
Nationality: American
Status: Active
Born: Nicole Victoria Aunapu, Jun 27, 1977, Petaluma, California, US
Christopher Ferguson
Christopher J. "Fergei" Ferguson is a Boeing commercial astronaut and a retired United States Navy Captain and NASA astronaut. He was the pilot of Space Shuttle Atlantis on his first mission to space, STS-115, which launched on September 9, 2006 and returned to Earth on September 21, 2006. He then commanded STS-126 aboard. In 2011, he was assigned as commander of STS-135, which was the final mission of the space shuttle program.
Nationality: American
Status: Active (Boeing) / Retired (NASA)
Born: Sept 1, 1961, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Eric Boe
Eric Allen Boe is a United States Air Force fighter pilot Colonel, test pilot, a Civil Air Patrol member, and a NASA astronaut. He flew as the pilot of Space Shuttle missions STS-126 and STS-133.
Nationality: American
Status: Active
Born: Eric Allen Boe, Oct 1, 1964, Miami, Florida, U.S.
Sunita Williams
Sunita Lyn Williams is an American astronaut and United States Navy officer who formerly held the records for total spacewalks by a woman and most spacewalk time for a woman. Williams was assigned to the International Space Station as a member of Expedition 14 and Expedition 15. In 2012, she served as a flight engineer on Expedition 32 and then commander of Expedition 33.
Status: Active
Born: September 19, 1965, Euclid, Ohio, U.S.
Other occupation: Test pilot
Josh A. Cassada
Josh Aaron Cassada is a NASA astronaut of the class of 2013.
Nationality: American
Status: Active
Born: Jul 18, 1973, San Diego, California, U.S.
SpaceX Astronauts
Robert L. Behnken
Robert Louis "Bob" Behnken is a United States Air Force officer, NASA astronaut and former Chief of the Astronaut Office. Behnken holds a Ph.D in Mechanical Engineering and holds the rank of Colonel in the U.S. Air Force. Col. Behnken has logged over 1,000 flight hours in 25 different aircraft.
Nationality: American
Status: Active
Born: Jul 28, 1970, Creve Coeur, Missouri, U.S.
Douglas G. Hurley
Douglas Gerald Hurley is an engineer and NASA astronaut. He piloted Space Shuttle mission STS-127, which launched July 15, 2009. He was assigned and flew as pilot for STS-135, the final flight of the Space Shuttle program, in July 2011. He is also the first Marine to fly the F/A-18 E/F Super Hornet. His call sign is "Chunky" and was sometimes referred to by this name on the communication loops.
Nationality: American
Status: Active
Born: Douglas Gerald Hurley, Oct 21, 1966, Endicott, New York
Victor J. Glover
Victor Jerome Glover is a NASA astronaut of the class of 2013.
Nationality: American
Status: Active
Born: Apr 30, 1976, Pomona, California, U.S.
Michael S. Hopkins
Michael Scott Hopkins is a Colonel in the U.S. Air Force, and a current NASA astronaut. Hopkins was selected in June 2009 as a member of the NASA Astronaut Group 20. He made his first spaceflight as a Flight Engineer on Soyuz TMA-10M/Expedition 37/Expedition 38, from September 2013 until March 2014. He was the first member of his astronaut class to fly in space.
Nationality: American
Status: Active
Born: Dec 28, 1968, Lebanon, Missouri, U.S.
