NASA will send two astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS) on May 27. This will be the first spaceflight with a crew launched from the US since 2011. For the last few years, NASA has been using Russian ships to send astronauts to the ISS.

"NASA will once again launch American astronauts on American rockets from American soil!" tweeted NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine.

The two astronauts are Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley. Behnken has been an astronaut with NASA since 2000 and has completed two space flights. Before joining NASA, he was a flight test engineer with the US Air Force.

Hurley has also been with NASA since 2000, and has been to space twice. Before becoming a NASA astronaut, he was a pilot in the US Marines.

Behnken and Hurley will travel in SpaceX's Crew Dragon spacecraft and will join 3 crew members who are already on the ISS. They are expected to stay on the ISS for several weeks or months.

Only three countries have launched people into space since 1961: Russia, the US and China, in that order. SpaceX would be the first company to do so.

NASA plans to use the Crew Dragon for research that will help with future travel to the Moon and Mars, starting with the Artemis program which aims to put the first woman on the Moon in 2024.

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