All you need to know about NASA's astronauts, Amazon's rocket program

NASA on Friday named nine astronauts for the first manned space launches from U.S. soil since the space shuttle program ended in 2011.

Following is a summary of current science news briefs.

NASA names astronauts for first manned U.S. space launches since 2011

NASA on Friday named nine astronauts for the first manned space launches from U.S. soil since the space shuttle program ended in 2011. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration's announcement signals a milestone in the U.S. space program, with its shift to the private sector for ferrying cargo and astronauts to the International Space Station.

A big hello from all nine of our @Commercial_Crew astronauts! Learn more about their missions to fly on @BoeingSpace & @SpaceX spacecraft and how this will return human launches to American soil for the first time since 2011: https://t.co/9yrKIbvG6r pic.twitter.com/RVM4tK9cKo

— NASA (@NASA) August 3, 2018

Bezos throws cash, engineers at rocket program as space race accelerates

Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos is racing to pull his private space company out of start-up mode and move into production amid signals that his firm's heavy rocket set for lift-off in 2020 may slip behind schedule, according to people familiar with the project. Blue Origin has added hundreds of engineers over the past three years and continues to ramp up in an expansion that one employee described as "hyperbolic." The Kent, Washington-based company is looking to double its current workforce to around 3,000 employees over the next two to three years, a top customer told Reuters.

Congratulations @BlueOrigin! Today's successful launch of the New Shepard rocket also included five @NASATechnology-supported payloads onboard. For each one of them, this flight was one in a series of suborbital demonstrations of the technology: https://t.co/r5TPNT6EFv pic.twitter.com/DfmT2hl79e

— NASA (@NASA) July 19, 2018

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