Overview

• The agency selected the group from more than 8,000 applicants spanning science, piloting and engineering backgrounds.
• The cohort comprises Ben Bailey, Lauren Edgar, Adam Fuhrmann, Cameron Jones, Yuri Kubo, Rebecca Lawler, Imelda Muller, Erin Overcash, Katherine Spies and Anna Menon.
• Anna Menon is the first person to join NASA’s corps with prior orbital experience, having flown on the private Polaris Dawn mission that also conducted the first commercial spacewalk.
• Training at Johnson Space Center will run about two years and cover robotics, geology, water survival, space medicine, language study, EVA simulations and high‑performance jet operations.
• Upon completion, the class will join 48 current astronauts and become eligible for flight assignments, with officials indicating later Artemis missions are possible as NASA leadership stresses urgency to return to the Moon.