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Sean Duffy, NASA’s appearing administrator, mentioned in a press release that the women and men will assist “unlock the Golden Age of exploration.”
The next generation of American astronauts have been introduced as the intrepid spacefarers who could be part of landmark NASA missions back to the moon and eventually to the surface of Mars.
On Monday, Sept. 22, NASA unveiled its 10 newest recruits who will undergo extensive training to become eligible for future spaceflight missions that could carry humans deeper into the cosmos than ever before. Chosen from more than 8,000 applicants, the incoming astronaut class includes test pilots, engineers and scientists – including one woman who, significantly, has already spent time in orbit.
Sean Duffy, NASA’s acting administrator, said in a statement that the men and women will help “unlock the Golden Age of exploration.”
“I’m honored to welcome the following era of American explorers to our company,” Duffy continued in the statement. “The 10 women and men sitting right here at present embody the reality that in America, no matter the place you begin, there isn’t a restrict to what a decided dreamer can obtain – even going to house.”
Here’s a look at the individuals in NASA’s new class of astronauts, and everything to know about what could be on the horizon for American space exploration.
Who are the brand new NASA astronauts of 2025?
The candidates – six ladies and 4 males – are the primary class of astronaut recruits in 4 years since 10 new astronauts were selected as part of the 2021 class.
Here’s a glance:
- Ben Bailey, 38, of Charlottesville, Virginia: an energetic member of the U.S. Army and graduate of the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School
- Lauren Edgar, 40, of Sammamish, Washington: a geologist who labored on the Artemis II lunar geology workforce and who has helped assist NASA’s robotic rovers on Mars
- Adam Fuhrmann, 35, of Leesburg, Virginia: a significant within the U.S. Air Force with 400 fight hours
- Cameron Jones, 35, of Savanna, Illinois: a major in the U.S. Air Force and a graduate of the U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School with greater than 1,600 flight hours in additional than 30 totally different plane
- Yuri Kubo, 40, of Columbus, Indiana: a previous SpaceX employee who served as launch director for Falcon 9 rocket launches, amongst different roles
- Rebecca Lawler, 38 of Little Elm, Texas: a former lieutenant commander and pilot within the U.S. Navy with greater than 2,800 flight hours in additional than 45 plane
- Anna Menon, 39, of Houston, Texas: a former SpaceX worker who additionally beforehand labored within the Mission Control Center at NASA’s Johnson Space Center
- Imelda Muller, 34, of Copake Falls, New York: a former lieutenant in the U.S. Navy who served as an undersea medical officer
- Erin Overcash, 34, of Goshen, Kentucky: a lieutenant commander in the U.S. Navy and a U.S. Naval Test Pilot School graduate with greater than 1,300 flight hours in 20 plane
- Katherine Spies, 43, of San Diego, California: a former Marine AH-1 assault helicopter pilot and experimental take a look at pilot, with greater than 2,000 flight hours in additional than 30 totally different plane
New astronaut has already been to house on Polaris Dawn
Among the brand new recruits, Menon holds the excellence as the one one to have already been to outer space.
In 2024, Menon was part of a four-person crew of private astronauts who orbited Earth for five days as part of the Polaris Dawn mission. Led by billionaire Jared Isaacman, a former nominee to lead NASA, the mission reached a number of historic milestones when its crew traveled to the highest heights humans had reached in more than five decades and later completed the first-ever nongovernment spacewalk.
Menon and her crewmate Sarah Gillis, both of whom worked as a space operations engineer for SpaceX at the time of the mission, also hold the record for the furthest from Earth any woman has traveled into space.
“It was a dream from a younger age and I by no means thought it will occur,” Menon instructed USA TODAY in 2024 earlier than the Polaris Dawn mission acquired off the bottom. She’s married to Anil Menon, who can also be an energetic astronaut.
How many NASA astronauts are there?
The 10 new astronaut candidates join 360 others recruited by NASA since seven males, together with the well-known John Glenn, have been chosen in 1959 as the unique “Mercury Seven.”
NASA lists a complete of 41 active astronauts with the U.S. house company.
What are the necessities to change into a NASA astronaut?
Candidates have a number of qualifications to meet to be recruited as a NASA astronaut:
- Be a U.S. citizen
- Have a master’s degree in a STEM field
- Have either at least three years of professional experience related to the degree
- Or, 1,000 hours as a pilot in command, 850 of which are in a jet aircraft
- Be able to complete the NASA long-duration flight astronaut physical
There are no age requirements for astronauts, according to NASA, which added that candidates selected in the past have ranged between the ages of 26 and 46.
How much money do astronauts make?
NASA lists the salary for astronauts as $152,258, but added that the rate “will likely be adjusted to mirror any enhance in 2025.”
What’s subsequent for the brand new astronaut class?
Ahead of the astronaut candidates is two years of intensive training earlier than they might graduate and be eligible for any NASA missions. That contains studying “fundamental astronaut expertise,” NASA says, including spacewalking, operating the space station, flying T-38 jet planes and controlling a robotic arm.
Could new astronauts go to the moon? What to know about NASA Artemis program
NASA’s Artemis program is the agency’s ambitious campaign to return Americans to the surface of the moon for the first time in more than 50 years. The last U.S. astronaut to land on the moon was Dec. 19, 1972, during NASA’s Apollo 17 mission.
In the years ahead, NASA’s Artemis campaign aims to establish a lunar settlement on the south pole, where water ice thought to be abundant in the region could be extracted and used for drinking, breathing and as a source of hydrogen and oxygen for rocket fuel.
Mars missions forward
Ultimately, the Artemis marketing campaign is reflective of NASA’s moon-to-Mars method to getting the primary people to the Red Planet.
The settlement – which incorporates plans for a nuclear reactor – would function a base of operations to make additional crewed house missions, together with journeys to Mars, doable.
NASA’s plan appears to deviate from the vision of SpaceX founder Elon Musk, who is striving to develop the commercial rocket company’s massive Starship spacecraft for private crewed trips straight from Earth to Mars.
Astronauts could be selected for trips to space station
NASA also regularly selects its astronauts for routine trips to the International Space Station.
Most recently, four international spacefarers – including two from other space agencies – embarked on a monthslong mission to the space station on a joint NASA-SpaceX mission known as Crew-11.
Though the outpost is due to be retired in the 2030s, NASA is seeking plans for a commercial replacement of the iconic orbital laboratory.
Contributing: Brooke Edwards, FLORIDA TODAY
Eric Lagatta is the Space Connect reporter for the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at [email protected]
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