CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — NASA unveiled its latest astronaut class on Monday, consisting of 10 scientists, engineers, and test pilots picked from over 8,000 candidates to aid in lunar exploration and potentially journeys to Mars.
For the inaugural time, the new astronaut class includes more women than men. This group features a geologist who worked on NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover and a SpaceX engineer who has already traveled to orbit on a mission sponsored by a billionaire that included the world’s first private spacewalk last year.
In an undated photo released by NASA, the 10 newest astronauts are seen posing behind the NASA logo at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas.
NASA via AP
NOTE: The video is from a previous report.
The six women and four men will undergo two years of training before becoming eligible for spaceflight.
Acting Administrator Sean Duffy mentioned that one among them could be among the first to step foot on Mars. He also emphasized that the U.S. is determined to win the renewed race to land astronauts on the moon.
“You are America’s best and brightest, and we’re going to need America’s best and brightest because we have a bold exploration plan for the future,” Duffy stated during Monday’s ceremony at Johnson Space Center in Houston. “Some are challenging our leadership in space, say like the Chinese … We are going to win.”
It is the 24th astronaut class for NASA since the original Mercury Seven made their debut in 1959. The previous class was in 2021.
So far, NASA has chosen only 370 individuals as astronauts, making it an extremely exclusive group, mostly consisting of men. The new members will join the 41 active U.S. astronauts in the corps now.
NASA’s flight operations director Norm Knight said competition was stiff and called the newcomers “distinguished” and “exceptional.” They include several military pilots, a former SpaceX launch director and a medical doctor.
Air Force Maj. Adam Fuhrmann said he got the call inviting him into the astronaut corps while driving home in rush hour traffic. He took the first exit and pulled into a parking lot “just to make sure I was hearing” right. Another Air Force pilot, Maj. Cameron Jones, was just settling into his new empty home after a cross-country move.
Yet another pilot, Navy Lt. Cmdr. Erin Overcash, got the news while relaxing at home. Her first words? “No way. I mean, I mean, yes, of course. But like no way.” She figures her experience stuck on a ship in the middle of the ocean with 5,000 others will serve her well dealing with space travel.
Anna Menon, who accompanied billionaire Jared Isaacman on a SpaceX flight last September, is NASA’s first astronaut candidate to have already visited orbit. She’ll be in good company at Johnson: Her husband, a former SpaceX flight surgeon, was chosen in NASA’s last astronaut class.
The U.S. Geological Survey’s Lauren Edgar worked with the Curiosity rover at Mars and, most recently, the science team behind the first moon landing by astronauts under the Artemis program that’s targeted for 2027 at the earliest. “I am so excited to be officially part of the NASA family,” she said.
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