Life

Meet the Astronauts of Today’s Launch

If you’re going on a trip, who better to take one with than a good buddy? That’s the case today as SpaceX and NASA prepare the first human launch from US soil in nearly a decade. 49-year-old Bob Behnken and 53-year-old Doug Hurley are not only close friends, but they’re also both space veterans – having notched two shuttle flights in their belts – and today would mark their first return to space since the shuttle program was discontinued in 2011. The New York Times reports both men attained the rank of colonel – Behnken in the Air Force and Hurley a Marine – before joining NASA in 2000. Both also married fellow astronauts from their class. Today’s launch is anticipated to lift off at 4:33 p.m. EDT, weather permitting.

Do you think they squabbled over who would get to drive? If it were you today, who would you want by your side?

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