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NASA's newest test pilots are veteran astronauts, friends
Read full article: NASA's newest test pilots are veteran astronauts, friends(SpaceX via AP)CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – The two astronauts who will test drive SpaceX’s brand new rocketship are classmates and friends, veteran spacefliers married to veteran spacefliers, and fathers of young sons. Retired Marine Col. Doug Hurley will be in charge of launch and landing, a fitting assignment for the pilot of NASA’s last space shuttle flight. Hurley, 53, and Behnken, 49, are NASA’s first test pilot crew in decades. Crippen and the late John Young rode NASA’s first space shuttle, Columbia, into orbit on April 12, 1981. Hurley and Behnken — both two-time space shuttle fliers — were among four astronauts chosen in 2015 for NASA’s commercial crew program.