NASA has named the astronauts who will embark on the second operational mission with SpaceX's Crew Dragon spacecraft.
Astronauts Megan McArthur and Shane Kimbrough will represent NASA in the Crew-2 mission that will send the spacecraft to the International Space Station under the Commercial Crew Program, the space agency said Tuesday.
NASA plans to launch Crew-2 in spring next year, with Crew-1 scheduled for September this year.
McArthur, the mission's pilot, and Kimbrough, the spacecraft commander, will be accompanied by Japan's Akihiko Hoshide and the European Space Agency's Thomas Pesquet. The astronauts will stay at ISS for half a year.
The two crewed operational missions follow the Demo-2 mission that served as a crewed test flight of the Crew Dragon spacecraft.
The Commercial Crew Program aims to provide the U.S. space industry with opportunities to launch NASA astronauts.
