--- description: NASA announced on Thursday the names of the first astronauts chosen to fly commercial space flights. title: NASA Just Picked Astronauts for Commercial Space Flights image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb0c948c1b5cc1865/69885a41cd1bba45486fc334/astronaut-composite.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Science](/section/science/) ## Science Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Space](/tag/space/) ## Space Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # NASA Just Picked the First Astronauts for Commercial Space Flights  by [Tessa Berenson](/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jul 9, 2015 4:36 PM CUT  Clockwise from top left: Douglas G. Hurley, Sunita L. Williams, Eric A. Boe, and Robert L. Behnken. Clockwise from top left: Douglas G. Hurley, Sunita L. Williams, Eric A. Boe, and Robert L. Behnken.NASA  by [Tessa Berenson](/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jul 9, 2015 4:36 PM CUT NASA announced on Thursday the names of the first astronauts chosen to fly commercial space flights. Sending commercial flights to space is “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,” said NASA administrator Charles Bolden [in a release](http://blogs.nasa.gov/bolden/2015/07/09/nasa-selects-astronauts-for-first-u-s-commercial-space-flights/ "undefined"). Robert Behnken, Sunita Williams, Eric Boe and Douglas Hurley, the four chosen 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 continued. Through the commercial crew program, NASA has invited private companies to compete for contracts to send supplies and, eventually, humans to the International Space Station. Elon Musk’s SpaceX, working on one such NASA contract, [launched an ISS-bound rocket on June 28](http://time.com/3949518/elon-musk-spacex-explosion/ "undefined") that exploded shortly after takeoff. [Read Next: Buzz Aldrin: SpaceX Failure Shows We Need More Commercial Space Travel—Not Less](http://time.com/3945033/buzz-aldrin-spacex-commercial-space-travel/ "undefined") ### PHOTOS: 20 Breathtaking Images of Earth From Space  Aleppo, Syria, May 26, 2013 – The Citadel of Aleppo – medieval fortified palace DigitalGlobe—Getty Images  Belfast, Northern Ireland, Nov. 3, 2013 – “Wish,” a large-scale art work DigitalGlobe—Getty Images  Utah, USA, April 22, 2013 – Colorado River DigitalGlobe—Getty Images  Cuanza River, Angola, April 28, 2013 – Cambambe Dam DigitalGlobe—Getty Images  Doha, Qatar, March 4, 2013 – Artificial island spanning nearly four million sq meters. DigitalGlobe—Getty Images  Dunalley, Australia, Jan. 6, 2013 – fires, false color image (red = healthy vegetation) DigitalGlobe—Getty Images  Australia, April 22, 2013 – Great Barrier Reef DigitalGlobe—Getty Images  Gwadar coast, Pakistan Sept. 29, 2013 – new island created by earthquake in Pakistan DigitalGlobe—Getty Images  Croatia, Feb. 16, 2013 – Galešnjak (Island of Love) DigitalGlobe—Getty Images  Hong Kong, China May 9, 2013 – giant rubber duck DigitalGlobe—Getty Images  Madang Province, Papua New Guinea, March 22, 2013 – Manam Volcano DigitalGlobe—Getty Images  Namib Desert, Namibia, May 13, 2013 – Sossusvlie area DigitalGlobe—Getty Images  Naples, Italy, Feb. 19 2013 – Mount Vesuvius DigitalGlobe—Getty Images  Niger, Feb. 13, 2013 – Arlit Uranium Mine DigitalGlobe—Getty Images  Schooner Cays, Bahamas, May 26, 2013 DigitalGlobe—Getty Images  Sochi, Russia, March 17, 2013 – Site of 2014 winter Olympics DigitalGlobe—Getty Images  Near the city of Sur, Oman, Feb. 13, 2013 – massive “green tide” DigitalGlobe—Getty Images  Valencia, Spain, July 19, 2013 – Palau de les Arts Reina Sofia and Gulliver Park with an enormous fiberglass model of Lemuel Gulliver trapped DigitalGlobe—Getty Images  Versailles, France, Aug. 20, 2013 – Palace of Versailles DigitalGlobe—Getty Images  Xi'an, China, Sept. 24, 2013 – Shiyuan Park DigitalGlobe—Getty Images ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3951355/nasa-astronauts-commercial-space-flight/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3951355/nasa-astronauts-commercial-space-flight/"},"headline":"NASA Just Picked the First Astronauts for Commercial Space Flights","datePublished":"2015-07-09T16:36:56.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T05:02:34.996Z","description":"They \"are blazing a new trail, a trail that will one day land them in the history books\"","url":"https://time.com/3951355/nasa-astronauts-commercial-space-flight/","keywords":["Space","NASA","Science topic"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb0c948c1b5cc1865/69885a41cd1bba45486fc334/astronaut-composite.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Tessa Berenson","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/"}],"articleSection":"Science","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb0c948c1b5cc1865/69885a41cd1bba45486fc334/astronaut-composite.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"astronaut composite","caption":"astronaut composite","creditText":"NASA","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/science/","name":"Science"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/space/","name":"Space"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3951355/nasa-astronauts-commercial-space-flight/","name":"NASA Just Picked the First Astronauts for Commercial Space Flights"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"A Year in Space - Ep.1: Leaving Home","description":"A Year in Space - Ep.1: Leaving Home","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/6ookw4W2/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2021-03-11T18:13:57.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/6ookw4W2.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3951355/nasa-astronauts-commercial-space-flight/","duration":"PT13M31S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3951355/nasa-astronauts-commercial-space-flight/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```