Tim Kopra and Rex Walheim are now listed as a management astronaut (from June 28th, 2018)at: https://www.nasa.gov/astronauts/biographies/management.
GCTC. “Water survival” starts.On July 2, 2018 a series of training sessions on the actions after landing of the spacecraft on the water surface starts and will last until July 20, 2018.Six crews will participate in the “water survival”, including seven Russian cosmonauts, six NASA astronauts, one JAXA astronaut.The trainings are providing by the training and testing team, which includes instructors, doctors, psychologists, divers, translators and other specialists of the GCTC, as well as representatives of NASA and JAXA.Before the stage of practical training, which will take place in Noginsk rescue center EMERCOM of Russia, the crew will listen to the theoretical course of disciplines.
First crew to begin this years Cosmonaut Water Survival Training at Star City - L-R Babkin, Tikhonov & Cassidy
http://www.gctc.ru/main.php?id=4279Sergey Ryazanski will leave the TsPK on July, 16.
Six crews will participate in the “water survival”, including seven Russian cosmonauts, six NASA astronauts, one JAXA astronaut.
Meat new #Soyuz 59S backup crew! Water survival training in #Russia
An exciting day for the entire #Starliner and @BoeingSpace team! Let's get ready to fly! Learn more about #Boeing test pilot @Astro_Ferg via @washingtonpost and @wapodavenport.
So its official @Astro_Ferg will be flying the first @BoeingSpace #CST100 Starliner as a company Test pilot along with two yet to be named @NASA_Astronauts from the @Commercial_Crew group of four. The @NASA crew will be named Aug. 7.
July 25, 2018MEDIA ADVISORY M18-111NASA to Name Astronauts Assigned to First Boeing, SpaceX FlightsNASA will announce on Friday, Aug. 3, the astronauts assigned to crew the first flight tests and missions of the Boeing CST-100 Starliner and SpaceX Crew Dragon, and begin a new era in American spaceflight. NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine will preside over the event, which will begin at 11 a.m. EDT on NASA Television and the agency’s website.NASA will announce the crew assignments for the crew flight tests and the first post-certification mission for both Boeing and SpaceX. NASA partnered with Boeing and SpaceX to develop the Starliner spacecraft to launch atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket and the Crew Dragon launching atop the Falcon 9 rocket, respectively.U.S. media are invited to attend the event at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston and, afterward, speak with the astronauts about their assignments. Media wishing to attend must contact Johnson's newsroom at 281-483-5111 by 4 p.m. CDT Wednesday, Aug. 1.Johnson Space Center Director Mark Geyer and Kennedy Space Center Director Bob Cabana will join Bridenstine and representatives from Boeing and SpaceX to introduce the crews.NASA’s Commercial Crew Program is working with the American aerospace industry as companies develop and operate a new generation of spacecraft and launch systems designed to carry crews safely to and from low-Earth orbit. The Starliner and Crew Dragon will launch American astronauts on American-made spacecraft from American soil to the International Space Station for the first time since NASA retired its Space Shuttle Program in 2011.Commercial transportation to and from the space station will enable expanded station use, additional research time and broader opportunities of discovery aboard the orbiting laboratory. The station is critical for NASA to understand and overcome the challenges of long-duration spaceflight, and necessary for a sustainable presence on the Moon and missions deeper into the solar system, including Mars.Following the announcement, the astronauts will participate in a Reddit Ask Me Anything at 12:30 p.m. at:https://www.reddit.com/r/AMA/Images and video highlights from the announcement will be available at:https://images.nasa.gov
6) crew: 1 GCTC instructor, Drew Morgan;
Japanese space agency’s vice president and director general for human spaceflight Technology.