The US Aerospace Agency (NASA) has announced new astronaut candidates for future Moon missions. The space agency has thus announced that it has added even more members to the Artemis Generation. In fact, many people want to be astronauts at a young age. Because going into space, walking in space sounds very nice. But very few people make this dream come true. Some of them announced their happiness to the whole world today as astronaut candidates.
NASA continues preparations for the Artemis Moon program
Six men and four women, selected from more than 12,000 applicants to the space agency in March 2020, became official astronaut candidates. His team of ten now awaits a challenging training process. Thus, with the Artemis mission, it will be possible for them to reach our satellite, the Moon. Of course, there will be other space mission opportunities as well.
As The Verge reports, NASA has stated that the new candidates for the Moon mission are part of the Artemis Generation. Meanwhile, we expect the Artemis program to start in 2025. The Space Launch System (SLS), developed by NASA for deep space exploration plans, will be one of the most important parts of this mission.
However, NASA has yet to assign teams to any missions related to the Artemis program. Therefore, technically, the flights still continue. In December 2020, NASA announced the Artemis Team of 18 astronauts likely to take part in the Artemis missions. The candidates announced today will likely join this pool as well.
Who are NASA’s new astronaut candidates?
Besides moon missions, NASA still flies astronauts to the International Space Station aboard SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft. However, new candidates need to be trained. Astronauts will learn to fly, spacewalk training, robotics, and many other missions on the agency’s fleet of T-38 jet aircraft in nearly two years of training at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. Those who succeed will receive astronaut status.
New astronaut candidates. (Photo: NASA)
NASA announced these names for its Moon mission:
- Nichole Ayers
- Marcos Berrios
- Christina Birch
- Deniz Burnham
- Luke Delaney
- Andre Douglas
- Jack Hathaway
- Anil Menon
- Christopher Williams
- Jessica Wittner
Most of the group are current or formerly with military experience in the US Air Force and Navy. Burnham is a drilling engineer from Alaska, while Menon was recently working as a paramedic at SpaceX. Ayers is an F-22 pilot in the US Air Force.
To be considered a NASA astronaut, candidates must be U.S. citizens and have a master’s degree in a STEM (science, technology, engineering, math)-related field from an accredited university. You also need to have at least 1,000 hours of jet piloting or at least three years of experience in a STEM-related field.
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