The Unique Friendship Between Astronauts
Every week, The Friendship Files features a conversation between The Atlantic’s Julie Beck and two or more friends, exploring the history and significance of their relationship.
This week she talks with two NASA astronauts who have been friends since they were in the same training class. Together, they’ve weathered lows (both were present for the explosion of the space shuttle Columbia in 2003) and highs (they were in each other’s weddings), and now they’re preparing to fly to space together for the first time, as the first astronauts aboard one of SpaceX’s commercial rockets. They will ride inside the company's Crew Dragon capsule; no launch date has been set yet.
The Friends:
Bob Behnken, 49, a NASA astronaut and Air Force colonel who lives in Houston, Texas
Doug Hurley, 52, a NASA astronaut and retired Marine Corps colonel who lives in Houston, Texas
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity
Julie Beck: How did your friendship develop alongside your astronaut careers?
Bob Behnken: We came from military backgrounds. I'm a flight test engineer. Doug is a pilot, which is kind of a communal activity. Doug and I came to Houston in the 2000 class of astronauts. There were a total of 17 of us, and for about two years we were pretty tightly scheduled.
Doug Hurley: We spent a lot of time together.
Bob: Multiple hours every day. We were learning the same things at the same time, and you build unique bonds with people as you go through that. For instance, the first time you do a cross-country [flight] in a NASA T-38 airplane, you do that together.
When you
