NASA Astronauts Aboard SpaceX Capsule, Ready For

The first US astronauts chosen to fly aboard a SpaceX capsule built for NASA shrugged off a spate of design and test mishaps, saying such setbacks were "part of the process" and the new technology was far more advanced than the space shuttle program that ended eight years ago.

Space shuttle veterans Bob Behnken, 48, and Doug Hurley, 52 are slated for blastoff later this year from Cape Canaveral, Florida, in the debut manned flight of the Crew Dragon capsule to the International Space Station and back.

Two fellow astronauts, Mike Hopkins, 50, and Victor Glover, 43, are designated for launch aboard the vehicle's first official operational mission at a later date, possibly with two more crew members from other countries.

While a series of design hitches and test accidents may end up pushing back this year's maiden launch to 2020, the astronauts voiced trust in the capabilities and safety of the space vehicles being developed through NASA's new commercial partnerships. They also said the business of space flight was not always neat and clean.

"People to a degree think it's pretty glamorous to be able to go into space, but it's actually like a messy camping trip," Hurley told Reuters in recent interviews with the astronauts conducted at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston.