Overview
- NASA opened its application window on Nov. 7 and will accept submissions through 11:59 p.m. EST on Dec. 3, 2026, with candidates to be named in late 2027 and training to start in early 2028.
- Applicants must be U.S. citizens with advanced technical credentials, normally a STEM master’s degree or approved alternatives, and most non-pilot candidates need at least three years of relevant professional experience.
- Pilot applicants can qualify by meeting specific flight-hour thresholds, including 750 hours as pilot-in-command in high-performance jets or 1,500 total hours in other fixed-wing aircraft with 750 in command.
- Selected candidates will face a long-duration astronaut flight physical and a roughly two-year training program covering spacewalking, lunar geology, robotics, spacecraft systems and high-performance flight.
- NASA lists an estimated annual salary of $164,395, warns of long isolation and austere conditions without hazard pay, and says the hires are needed because its active corps of about 32 astronauts cannot meet planned Artemis and Moon-base demands.