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HOUSTON — NASA has launched its new class of astronaut candidates, a few of whom could also be among the many first individuals to set foot on Mars.
The cadre — the twenty fourth astronaut class in NASA’s historical past, and the primary new one since 2021 — was introduced immediately (Sept. 22) throughout a ceremony right here at NASA’s Johnson Space Center.
The newly unveiled astronaut candidates — 5 males and 5 ladies — have been chosen from a pool of greater than 8,000 candidates. NASA’s name for functions opened for a couple of month final yr, simply because the earlier class graduated.
“This selection was challenging, competitive and very difficult, but what we have for you here today is a group of individuals who are not only exceptional but who will be inspirational for the United States of America, and for our planet,” Norm Knight, NASA flight operations director, stated throughout immediately’s ceremony.
The group now waits for his or her coaching to start. They’ll quickly report again to JSC, to tackle classes in spaceflight, spacewalks, engineering and every other skill an astronaut needs to survive in space.
They’ll graduate in about two years, just as NASA aims to land astronauts on the moon as a part of the Artemis 3 mission. This new class will be too green for selection on Artemis 3, but if NASA’s Artemis program continues under its current design, Artemis 3 will help lead to the establishment of a sustained presence on the lunar surface, as a proving ground for future crewed missions to Mars.
While some of these astronaut candidates (or ASCANs for short) may in fact stamp the first human boot prints in the Red Planet’s rusty regolith, others may become the first NASA astronauts to live and work aboard a commercial space station in low Earth orbit (LEO).
The International Space Station (ISS) is heading for retirement in late 2030 or early 2031. NASA hopes to continue its LEO research operations once the ISS is gone but is preparing to shed the financial burden of ongoing station maintenance and management.
Instead, NASA plans to turn to commercial LEO destinations. Several companies are currently developing their own stations, including Blue Origin, Axiom Space and Vast Space. Depending on these projects’ development timelines, there’s a good chance that these new ASCANs will be the first NASA astronauts to live in space aboard a commercial outpost.
Here’s a brief rundown of the newly announced astronaut candidates, with biographical details provided by NASA:
Meet the astronauts
Ben Bailey, 38, is a chief warrant officer 3 within the U.S. Army. Bailey, who’s from Charlottesville, Virginia, holds a bachelor’s diploma in mechanical engineering from the University of Virginia. He’s additionally a U.S. Naval Test Pilot School graduate who has collected greater than 2,000 flight hours in additional than 30 several types of plane.
Lauren Edgar, 40, is from Sammamish, Washington. She earned a bachelor’s diploma in Earth sciences from Dartmouth College and a grasp’s and doctorate in geology from the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. She has labored with NASA’s Mars rover missions for 17 years and has additionally served because the deputy principal investigator for the Artemis 3 Geology Team.
Adam Fuhrmann, 35, a major in the U.S. Air Force, is from Leesburg, Virginia. He holds a bachelor’s diploma in aerospace engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and two grasp’s levels — one in flight check engineering from the U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School and one in programs engineering from Purdue University. He has logged 2,100 flight hours in 27 several types of plane, together with 400 fight hours in help of Operations Freedom’s Sentinel and Resolute Support.
Cameron Jones, 35, additionally a significant within the U.S. Air Force, is from Savanna, Illinois. He holds bachelor’s and grasp’s levels in aerospace engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Jones can also be a test pilot with greater than 1,600 flight hours in additional than 30 totally different plane, together with 150 fight hours.
Yuri Kubo, 40, is from Columbus, Indiana. He earned a bachelor’s diploma in electrical engineering and a grasp’s in electrical and laptop engineering, each from Purdue University. He labored at SpaceX for 12 years in numerous roles, together with launch director for Falcon 9 launches. Most lately, Kubo served as senior vp of engineering on the firm Electric Hydrogen.
Rebecca Lawler, 38, is from Little Elm, Texas. She’s a former lieutenant commander within the U.S. Navy and an experimental check pilot who has logged greater than 2,800 flight hours in additional than 45 types of aircraft. Lawler holds a bachelor’s diploma in mechanical engineering from the U.S. Naval Academy and grasp’s levels from The Johns Hopkins University and the National Test Pilot School. She additionally flew as a “hurricane hunter” for the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and, most lately, was a check pilot for United Airlines.
Anna Menon, 39, is from Houston. She holds a bachelor’s diploma from Texas Christian University and a grasp’s in biomedical engineering from Duke University. Menon beforehand labored within the Mission Control Center at JSC, supporting medical {hardware} and software program on the ISS. She has already been to house, reaching the ultimate frontier in September 2024 on SpaceX’s Polaris Dawn mission, which featured the first-ever non-public spacewalk. Most lately, she served as a senior engineer at SpaceX.
Imelda Muller, 34, is from Copake Falls, New York and is a former lieutenant within the U.S. Navy. She earned a bachelor’s diploma in behavioral neuroscience from Northeastern University and a medical diploma from the University of Vermont College of Medicine. She’s an anesthesiologist who has supplied medical help for Navy diver coaching on the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory at JSC.
Erin Overcash, 34, a lieutenant commander within the U.S. Navy, is from Goshen, Kentucky. She holds a bachelor’s diploma in aerospace engineering and a grasp’s in bioastronautics from the University of Colorado, Boulder. She’s additionally a check pilot with greater than 1,300 flight hours in 20 several types of plane; she has landed on plane carriers 249 occasions. Overcash was additionally a part of the Navy’s World Class Athlete Program, an expertise that allowed her to coach with the USA Rugby Women’s National Team on the Olympic Training Center.
Katherine Spies, 43, is from San Diego. She holds a bachelor’s diploma in chemical engineering from the University of Southern California and a master’s in design engineering from Harvard University. She additionally graduated from the U.S. Naval Test Pilot faculty and served as a U.S. Marine Corps AH-1 assault helicopter pilot and experimental check pilot; she collected greater than 2,000 flight hours in additional than 30 forms of plane. Most lately, Spies was director of flight check engineering at Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation.
NASA has excessive hopes for the brand new class, which may participate in some historic missions over the approaching years.
“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,” performing NASA Administrator Sean Duffy stated throughout immediately’s occasion.
“We are going back to the moon,” he added. “This time, we’re going to stay, and from what we learn on our mission to the moon, we’re going to go to Mars, and we’re going to go beyond, into the unknown.”
And the U.S. goes to notch that moon aim earlier than China does, Duffy careworn.
“I’ll be damned if the Chinese beat NASA, or beat America, back to the moon,” he stated. “We are going to win.”
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