The excitement level was 💯 today as we announced the nine astronauts that will fly on some of the first Commercial Crew flights to the International Space Station (ISS). American companies Boeing (Boeing) and SpaceX (SpaceX) have been building brand new, high-tech spaceships to transport astronauts from American soil into space for the first time since the space shuttle retirement in 2011. This new spaceflight capability will allow us to maintain a crew of seven astronauts on the space station. That means more science! This scientific research leads to breakthroughs and also aids in understanding and mitigating the challenges of long-duration spaceflight, which is important in our journey to send humans to the Moon and Mars. Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls #nasa #space #astronauts #LaunchAmerica #CommercialCrew #Boeing #SpaceX #spacecraft #spaceship #science #spacestation #launch #american #US #SpaceShuttle #excitement #crew #announcement