Astronauts Bob Behnken and Eric Boe

NASA’s Commercial Crew Program partners Boeing and SpaceX will carry astronauts to and from the International Space Station.

Doug Hurley, from left, Eric Boe, Bob Behnken and Sunita "Suni" Williams have been selected to be the first astronauts to train for test flights to the International Space Station on Boeing’s CST-100 and SpaceX’s Crew Dragon.

Standing at Johnson Space Center in Houston, training base for NASA's astronaut corps, the crew posed together for the first time since the announcement was made.

Working shoulder to shoulder with engineers in the agency’s Commercial Crew Program, the astronauts will be instrumental in the final development and certification of new commercially owned and operated American space systems.

NASA will select crew members from this group to fly the first test flights in 2018.