10 new astronaut candidates inaugurated at NASA

NASA inaugurated a new astronaut candidate class on Monday, it announced. 

The 10 candidates were selected from 12,000 applicants and will begin two years of training in January as they prepare to possibly walk on the moon or conduct research on the International Space Station, according to NASA. 

“Today we welcome 10 new explorers, 10 members of the Artemis generation,” NASA Administrator Bill Nelson, a former Florida senator, said on Monday at a ceremony in Houston near NASA’s astronaut headquarters.

“Alone, each of these candidates certainly has the right stuff, but together, they represent exactly the creed of our country — e pluribus unum — out of many, one,” Nelson added.

Their training will include “operating and maintaining the International Space Station’s complex systems, training for spacewalks, developing complex robotics skills, safely operating a T-38 training jet and Russian language skills,” according to the agency.

Most of the 10 candidates have experience in the U.S. Armed Forces, including in the Air Force and as Navy pilots. One previously served as SpaceX’s first flight surgeon, and another is a bioengineer who was also a track cyclist on the U.S. National Team.

The group, which is NASA’s 23rd class of astronauts, comes to the agency during its focus on Artemis, the effort to return astronauts to the moon in 2025, according to The New York Times.

Two people from the United Arab Emirates, Nora Al Matrooshi and Mohammad Al Mulla, will also train alongside NASA’s candidates, the Times reported.

NASA’s last class of candidates was inducted in 2017, and members of that class could also be eligible to travel to the moon. Two of the members of that class are currently working aboard the International Space Station, the Times added.