NASA will announce commercial crew astronaut choices

spacecraft will soon have its first pbadengers: NASA plans to announce Aug. 3 astronauts badigned to test flights and inaugural trips to the program. Commercial crew of the agency.

NASA will broadcast the live event of the Johnson Space Center (JSC) Houston starting at 11:00 am EDT (3:00 pm GMT), where Jim Bridenstine, NASA Administrator, will introduce the astronauts. JSC Director Mark Geyer and Kennedy Space Center Director Bob Cabana, as well as SpaceX and Boeing representatives, will also be involved, NASA officials said in a statement. The program will reveal the astronauts badigned to each of the companies' crew test flights and their first missions to the space station, all of which will depart from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

NASA's Commercial Crew Program will allow Boeing and SpaceX to launch astronauts at the International Space Station. This will pave the way for approval of the Boeing Starliner spacecraft, which will be launched at the top of the United Launch Alliance's Atlas 5 rocket, and SpaceX's Crew Dragon spacecraft, carried by the rocket. Falcon 9 of the company. Both Boeing and SpaceX have tested and developed their spacecraft, and both are currently scheduled to have their first crew test flights in 2018. Dragon currently delivers cargo to the International Space Station on robotic replenishment races ; the Crew Dragon is a modified version of the capsule. The Russian spacecraft Soyuz is currently the only spacecraft used to bring astronauts and cosmonauts to the International Space Station, but NASA has not committed to buying seats on this spacecraft for the astronauts of the world. Agency after 2019. Boeing and SpaceX essential part of the NASA space station program if they can operate their spacecraft.

Astronauts are currently training for the Soyuz, but the newly appointed crew will be the first of a new generation formation to fly and ride in Starliner and Dragon. They will also be the first to be launched from the United States to the International Space Station since the Space Shuttle's last flight in 2011, according to NASA officials

"Commercial Transport to and from the Space Station The time and the wider possibilities of discovery aboard the laboratory in orbit, "said NASA officials in the statement. "The station is essential for NASA to understand and overcome the challenges of long-duration space flight, and [it’s] necessary for a lasting presence on the moon and deeper missions in the solar system, including Mars."

3 announcement, astronauts will take questions on Reddit from 12:30 pm EDT (4:30 pm GMT) on an Ask Me Anything page, according to NASA.

Email Sarah Lewin at [email protected] or follow her @SarahExplains . Follow us on @Spacedotcom Facebook and Google+. Original article on Space.com.