NASA is searching for its next generation of astronauts, and U.S. citizens have until midnight ET on Dec. 3 to apply for the opportunity to “live and work” on the moon.
The agency’s application portal describes the astronaut opening as having “few vacancies.” The position comes with an annual salary of $164,395, and those selected must move to Houston to work at NASA’s Johnson Space Center.
Although the opportunity is open to any eligible U.S. citizen, candidates must satisfy strict education requirements and demonstrate specialized professional experience. This is not a position for just anyone.
NASA is assembling the new astronaut class as the United States works toward establishing a sustained presence on the moon and sending crewed missions to the lunar surface. The agency’s Artemis II mission carried four astronauts around the moon in April, marking the farthest humans have traveled from Earth.
“The people we select could walk on the moon, live and work at the moon base, and help pioneer the systems and operations that will ultimately carry crews to Mars,” NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said in a statement. “Those missions will demand technical excellence, sound judgment, teamwork and courage.”
Here’s what NASA says applicants need to qualify for its astronaut program.
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Educational background
According to NASA’s job listing, applicants must meet at least one of the following four education requirements:
- A master’s degree in an eligible field, including engineering, biological science, physical science, computer science or mathematics.
- Two academic years of qualifying doctoral study in one of those fields.
- An eligible medical degree, including an MD, physician assistant qualification or nurse practitioner qualification.
- Graduation from an accredited test pilot school by July 2027.
Specialized experience
Candidates must also identify the professional area that best matches their background. NASA requires at least three years of relevant experience after completion of a degree program or pilot training.
- Pilots: Applicants must satisfy one of three flight-time standards: 750 hours as pilot in command of a high-performance jet; 1,500 hours in other fixed-wing aircraft, including 750 hours as pilot in command; or 1,000 hours in rotary-wing aircraft, including 300 hours as pilot in command. Initial flight instruction and drone experience do not count.
- Flight test: Candidates must have completed test pilot school or be enrolled in a program scheduled for completion by July 2027, along with three years of related flight-test experience.
- Medical: Applicants need at least three years of professional experience after earning a medical degree. NASA says medical residencies can count toward that requirement.
- Biological and medical science: At least three years of relevant professional experience.
- Physical science: Three years of related work experience.
- Engineering: Three years of related work experience.
- Operations: Three years of experience in “high-consequence environments that require real-time decision-making and intensive teamwork, where errors carry irreversible and physical risk to personnel, missions or vehicles,” NASA said.
Other requirements
Prospective astronauts must clear several additional screenings, including medical and psychiatric evaluations, a background investigation and a drug test. Their vision must be correctable to 20/20 in both eyes.
Applicants must also be capable of handling moderate to strenuous physical demands, such as heavy lifting, crouching and crawling, while working in bad weather. NASA says candidates must be prepared to operate in dangerous or potentially life-threatening conditions and to spend extended periods in remote, isolated, small or confined environments. A swimming test is also required.
In addition, candidates must be willing to spend 12 months or more in space, coping with extreme isolation, limited living conditions and prolonged separation from family and friends.
