Overview
- Ten candidates selected from more than 8,000 applicants comprise NASA’s 24th astronaut class since 1959.
- For the first time, the incoming group has more women than men, with six women and four men.
- Erin Overcash of Goshen, Kentucky, is a U.S. Navy lieutenant commander and Naval Test Pilot School graduate with over 1,300 flight hours.
- Yuri Kubo of Columbus, Indiana, is a Purdue graduate who spent 12 years at SpaceX, including serving as a Falcon 9 launch director and earlier co-op at NASA Johnson.
- At the Johnson Space Center ceremony, Acting Administrator Sean Duffy said someone from the class could be among the first on Mars and emphasized U.S. leadership in returning to the Moon.