The Astronaut Wives Know Exactly What to Expect

The reality of the moment is finally sinking in. Karen Nyberg and Megan McArthur, two NASA astronauts, have spent years waiting for this mission. Now the launch is just days away. The rocket is already upright at Cape Canaveral. Soon, it will roar into the sky and dispatch a new crew to the International Space Station.

Nyberg and McArthur, however, won’t be on board. This time, it’s their husbands’ turn to leave the planet. Nyberg and McArthur will be watching from the ground, cheering them on.

Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken are veteran astronauts, like their wives. This week, the two men will fly on a new astronaut-transportation system by SpaceX, the company founded by Elon Musk. They will be the first NASA astronauts to take off from U.S. soil since 2011, the test-drivers in an effort to get human spaceflight back on America’s terms after nearly a decade