Abstract: Astronaut Robert Behnken will speak on his role in NASA’s Commercial Crew Program.  Dr. Behnken has flown twice on the space shuttle, performed numerous spacewalks assembling the International Space Station (ISS), and is currently assigned to fly on SpaceX’s new Dragon capsule back to the ISS.

Biosketch: Robert L. Behnken was selected as an astronaut by NASA in 2000 and is a veteran of two space shuttle flights. He is currently training for the Demo 2 flight of SpaceX’s CrewDragon spacecraft, the first crewed flight for that vehicle.  Behnken and his crewmates are working closely with SpaceX to develop their new spacecraft systems, which will provide roundtrip crew transportation services to the International Space Station and, along with Boeing’s Starliner, return the ability to launch humans into space from United States soil. A native of Missouri, Behnken flew STS-123 in March 2008 and STS-130 in February 2010, logging more than 708 hours in space, and more than 37 hours during six spacewalks.