These are American astronauts making historic space travel

But what else should we know?

The trip to the International Space Station lasts 19 hours. 10 minutes after the departure, the first phase of the Falcon 9 missile was separated from the rest and successfully landed on Earth to be used again. Then the second phase of the missile was split, and the astronaut capsule continued on to the International Space Station.

When the Atlantis Space Ship was launched for the last time by Cape Canaveral on July 8, 2011, it was run by astronaut NASA's Doug Hurley.

Now nearly a decade later, Hurley is one of the two test pilots for the entire new SpaceX missile ship produced for this flight.

The other astronaut is Air Force Colonel Bob Beenken, his classmate.

Who's Bob Beenken?

Before the departure, Beenken expressed enthusiasm for this mission. “I am really excited about this NASA and SpaceX mission to restore human space flight to the coasts of Florida”, Bechen said during a conference on 1 May.

He added that he is eager to share the mission and experience with his six-year-old son, Theodore. Behken is married to another NASA astronaut, Megan McArthur, who flew into STS-125 for the work of the Humbble Space Telescope in 2009.

Beenken grew up in Missouri and earned two basic degrees in physics and mechanical engineering in 1988 and 1992 at the University of Washington, St. Louis. He won a master degree in mechanical engineering in 1993 in Caltech and a doctorate in mechanical engineering in 1997, also in Caltech.

After the postgraduate school, Behnken attended California Air Force School while on Air Force Reserve Training Corps and served as a flight test engineer. He recorded over 1,500 hours of flying and flew over 25 different aircraft species.

He was elected to NASA astronauts' body in July 2000. After completing astronaut training, he served as chief of the space station's operations at NASA Space Centre Kennedy. He kept on serving as chief astronaut of NASA between 2012 and 2015.

In 2008, Behken flew into space for the first time on the Stillavour space shuttle, as part of the STS-233 mission at the International Space Station. He flew back to Hemavor in 2010 for the STS-130 mission. In total, Behken has registered more than 708 hours in space and has spent more than 37 hours outside the space station.

Who's Doug Hurley?

Hurley was just as excited as Binken, who became part of this historic flight. It's a great honor to be part of this” mission. He said during the same conference on 1 May. He noted that this flight comes nearly a decade later and that he and Behken worked with NASA's commercial crew and SpaceX programme for years until they arrived on this mission. He says it took him a long time to get here.

Both Behken and Hurley are also married to a NASA astronaut. Hurley married retired astronaut Karen Neyberg, who served as a specialist in the STS-124 mission and as flight engineer for expeditions 36 and 37 at the International Space Station.

Hurley won a secular degree in science in civil engineering at KK in 1988. That same year, he became the second lieutenant colonel at the U.S. Marine Corps. He then continued to attend the Foundation School in Quantico, Virginia, and in 1989 entered flight training.

Hurley became a sea carrier in 1991, and after his training, he served on three dislocations in the Western Pacific. He also attended the postgraduate Marine School in KK, California, where he finished the U.S. Marine Aviation Course and the Tactical Instructive Course, the Marine Division Tactical Course and the Air Security Officers' course.

In 1997, he was selected to attend the United States Pilot Marine Test School in the TK, and after graduation, he was appointed as a test pilot and project officer with the Aircraft Test Team (VX-23). Hurley participated in many flight tests and was even the first Marine pilot to fly a fighter plane. It has recorded more than 5,500 hours of flying in more than 25 different types of aircraft. Like Behken, Hurley was elected to NASA's astronaut Corps in July 2000. He was chosen as a pilot, and, after two years of training, he was assigned to technical duties at the RK's astronaut office and served as the chief staff of astronauts' aid to ships in STS-107 missions and STS-121. Hurley also served as NASA director of operations at the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Centre in Star City, Russia.

In 2009, Hurley flew into space for the first time on the Stillavour space shuttle as a pilot to STS-27. After this mission, he served as a security chief of the astronaut office. In 2011, he flew aboard the Atlantis ship on the final mission of the space shuttle, STS-135.

Later, in 2014, Hurley became the assistant director of the commercial crew program for the flight operations directorate.