(Image source from: Indiatimes.com)

An Indian-origin United States astronaut Sunita Willams has been announced one among the nine astronauts named by NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) on Friday for its first human spaceflight programme since the retirement of the space shuttle in 2011.

For the past seven years, Russian rockets have been the only way to get people into orbit.

The commercial crew members were introduced by NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine at the agency's Johnson Space Center in Houston.

"For the first time since 2011, we are on the brink of launching American astronauts on American rockets from American soil," he told the enthusiastic audience.

The space agency proclaimed that the nine astronauts will launch on the first crewed test flights and missions of new commercial spacecraft built and operated by The Boeing Company and SpaceX.

Along with one erstwhile astronaut-turned-corporate crew member, the eight progressive NASA astronauts will launch on SpaceX Dragon capsules and Boeing CST-100 Starliner to the 2019 International Space Station.

The missions will mark the introductory crewed launches from the U.S. soil since the end of the space shuttle programme seven years ago.

In addition to naming the crews of the test flights, NASA also announced today the four astronauts who will fly aboard the first operational Starliner and Dragon missions to the space station. In cooperation with NASA, both the vehicles were developed to deliver crew members to and from the orbiting laboratory.
                       Image source: dnaindia.com
Along with Sunita ("Suni") Williams, 52, the 45-year-old Josh Cassada will be flying aboard NASA's initially contracted starliner mission.

Earlier, Williams logged 321 days in orbit on two stays aboard the space station, recently returning to the Earth in 2012.

Prior to their maiden crewed missions, both Boeing and SpaceX plan un-crewed test flights in late 2018 or early 2019.

To guarantee the astronauts can safely escape should their rockets go awry, both companies will as well conduct abort system test flights.

With Russian and international astronauts, the two pairs of NASA crewmates will fly to the station, which is to be announced at a later date. Between the end of the space shuttle program and the beginning of commercial crew operations, NASA's crew members have and are continuing to launch to the space station on Russian Soyuz spacecraft.

Both the companies as well modified their launch pads, developed new spacesuits, and established mission control teams to assist the approaching flights.

The crew of International Space Station, with the beginning of four-person commercial missions, is slated to increase by one to a seven-person residency to maximize the science that can be conducted on board.

The commercial spacecraft of Boeing and SpaceX's may likewise open the space station and more broadly, Earth orbit to more spaceflight participants and privately-funded visitors from countries that do not have their own domestic crewed rockets and spacecraft.

By Sowmya Sangam