Who are Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken? Meet NASA astronauts ahead of Netflix's Return to Space premiere

Return to Space is all set to drop on Netflix soon. The documentary feature showcases SpaceX's story, the project that took Elon Musk to space.

The American space exploration movie, set to be released on April 7, documents a big leap for mankind that mobilized NASA space missions once again. In light of the release, Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley are two names from the world of space that are making the rounds on the internet.

Dough Hurley and Bob Behnken made history as the first American astronauts to be sent into space by a private company - Elon Musk’s SpaceX.

Behnken and Hurley's SpaceX mission, which was named Demo-2, was the result of a roughly $8 billion, 10-year public-private investment called the Commercial Crew Program. NASA awarded SpaceX about $2.7 billion to develop, build, and test Crew Dragon, as well as fly it on seven missions.

This joining of forces enabled SpaceX to become a seasoned and reliable commercial spaceflight provider that has the potential to break open a new era of commercial space travel.

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Who are Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken?

Dough Hurley is a 55-year-old astronaut who grew up in New York while dreaming of working as an astronaut. He pursued a civil engineering degree from Tulane University and went on to join the Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps, from where he was promoted to test pilot in the Marine Corps before going on to become a member of NASA's year 2000 astronaut class.

Behnken is a 51-year-old Missouri native who also followed a similar path. He pursued a mechanical-engineering degree from Washington University and did his master's and a doctorate from Caltech. Behnken also joined the US Air Force's ROTC program, which led him to become a test pilot and also a member of the same class of NASA astronaut candidates.

The two men met each other in NASA's program and soon became best buddies.

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What is Return to Space all about?

Return to Space is a documentary film that shadows Behnken and Hurley's 2020 flight to the International Space Station. Directed by Jimmy Chin and Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi, the film follows Elon Musk's and SpaceX engineers' two-decade mission to send NASA astronauts back to the International Space Station and once again revolutionize space travel.

Return to Space follows astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley as they embark on the SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft, which triggered space travel once again on American-made rockets from U.S. soil after the last Space Shuttle mission which took place in July 2011.

The documentary, Return to Space, premieres on April 7, 2022 on Netflix.