NASA chooses astronauts for 1st U.S. commercial space flights

Space agency targets trip to Mars in 2030s

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – NASA on Thursday selected the first astronauts to lead the way back into orbit from U.S. soil.

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In a blog post on nasa.gov, Administrator Charlie Bolden said Air Force Col. Robert Behnken, until recently head of the astronaut office; Air Force Col. Eric Boe, part of shuttle Discovery's last crew; retired Marine Col. Douglas Hurley, pilot of the final shuttle crew; and Navy Capt. Sunita Williams, a former resident of the International Space Station, were selected by the agency to fly on capsules built by SpaceX and Boeing.

"These distinguished, veteran astronauts are blazing a new trail, a trail that will one day land them in the history books and Americans on the surface of Mars," Bolden said.

Bolden said NASA is working toward launching astronauts in a commercial spacecraft in 2017.  It will be the first human launches from Cape Canaveral since the space shuttles were retired in 2011.

"Today's announcement allows our astronauts to begin training for these flights starting now," Bolden said.

The blog post stated that NASA has a goal of sending American astronauts to Mars in the 2030s while maintaining its focus on the International Space Station.

"(It's) all part of our ambitious plan to return space launches to U.S. soil, create good-paying American jobs and advance our goal of sending humans farther into the solar system than ever before," Bolden said.

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