NASA Introduces 10 New Astronaut Candidates (cbsnews.com)
(Tuesday September 23, 2025 @03:00AM (BeauHD)
from the class-of-2025 dept.)
- Reference: 0179485410
- News link: https://science.slashdot.org/story/25/09/23/0428201/nasa-introduces-10-new-astronaut-candidates
- Source link: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/new-nasa-astronaut-class-candidates/
NASA has [1]unveiled 10 new astronaut candidates drawn from over 8,000 applicants. The diverse group [2]includes four men and six women -- pilots, scientists, and medical professionals -- who will train for future missions to the ISS, the moon, and eventually Mars. CBS News reports:
> This is NASA's first astronaut class with more women than men. It includes six pilots with experience in high-performance aircraft, a biomedical engineer, an anesthesiologist, a geologist and a former SpaceX launch director. Among the new astronaut candidates is 39-year-old Anna Menon, a mother of two who flew to orbit in 2024 aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon as a private astronaut on a commercial, non-NASA flight. [...]
>
> The other members of the 2025 astronaut class are:
> - Army Chief Warrant Officer 3 Ben Bailey, 38, a graduate of the Naval Test Pilot School with more than 2,000 hours flying more than 30 different aircraft, including recent work with UH-60 Black Hawk and CH-47F Chinook helicopters.
> - Lauren Edgar, 40, who holds a Ph.D. in geology from the California Institute of Technology, with experience supporting NASA's Mars exploration rovers and, more recently, serving as a deputy principal investigator with NASA's Artemis 3 moon landing mission.
> - Air Force Maj. Adam Fuhrmann, 35, an Air Force Test Pilot School graduate with more than 2,100 hours flying F-16 and F-35 jets. He holds a master's degree in flight test engineering.
> - Air Force Maj. Cameron Jones, 35, another graduate of Air Force Test Pilot School as well as the Air Force Weapons School with more than 1,600 hours flying high-performance aircraft, spending most of his time flying the F-22 Raptor.
> - Yuri Kubo, 40, a former SpaceX launch director with a master's in electrical and computer engineering who also competed in ultimate frisbee contests.
> - Rebecca Lawler, 38, a former Navy P-3 Orion pilot and experimental test pilot with more than 2,800 hours of flight time, including stints flying a NOAA hurricane hunter aircraft. She was a Naval Academy graduate and was a test pilot for United Airlines at the time of her selection.
> - Imelda Muller, 34, a former undersea medical officer for the Navy with a medical degree from the University of Vermont's Robert Larner College of Medicine; she was completing her residency in anesthesia at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore at the time of her astronaut selection.
> - Navy Lt. Cmdr. Erin Overcash, 34, a Naval Test Pilot School graduate and an experienced F/A-18 and F/A-18F Super Hornet pilot with 249 aircraft carrier landings. She also trained with the USA Rugby Women's National Team.
> - Katherine Spies, 43, a former Marine Corps AH-1 attack helicopter pilot and a graduate of the Naval Test Pilot School with more than 2,000 hours flying time. She was director of flight test engineering for Gulfstream Aerospace Corp. at the time of her astronaut selection.
[1] https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/nasa-selects-all-american-2025-class-of-astronaut-candidates/
[2] https://www.cbsnews.com/news/new-nasa-astronaut-class-candidates/
> This is NASA's first astronaut class with more women than men. It includes six pilots with experience in high-performance aircraft, a biomedical engineer, an anesthesiologist, a geologist and a former SpaceX launch director. Among the new astronaut candidates is 39-year-old Anna Menon, a mother of two who flew to orbit in 2024 aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon as a private astronaut on a commercial, non-NASA flight. [...]
>
> The other members of the 2025 astronaut class are:
> - Army Chief Warrant Officer 3 Ben Bailey, 38, a graduate of the Naval Test Pilot School with more than 2,000 hours flying more than 30 different aircraft, including recent work with UH-60 Black Hawk and CH-47F Chinook helicopters.
> - Lauren Edgar, 40, who holds a Ph.D. in geology from the California Institute of Technology, with experience supporting NASA's Mars exploration rovers and, more recently, serving as a deputy principal investigator with NASA's Artemis 3 moon landing mission.
> - Air Force Maj. Adam Fuhrmann, 35, an Air Force Test Pilot School graduate with more than 2,100 hours flying F-16 and F-35 jets. He holds a master's degree in flight test engineering.
> - Air Force Maj. Cameron Jones, 35, another graduate of Air Force Test Pilot School as well as the Air Force Weapons School with more than 1,600 hours flying high-performance aircraft, spending most of his time flying the F-22 Raptor.
> - Yuri Kubo, 40, a former SpaceX launch director with a master's in electrical and computer engineering who also competed in ultimate frisbee contests.
> - Rebecca Lawler, 38, a former Navy P-3 Orion pilot and experimental test pilot with more than 2,800 hours of flight time, including stints flying a NOAA hurricane hunter aircraft. She was a Naval Academy graduate and was a test pilot for United Airlines at the time of her selection.
> - Imelda Muller, 34, a former undersea medical officer for the Navy with a medical degree from the University of Vermont's Robert Larner College of Medicine; she was completing her residency in anesthesia at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore at the time of her astronaut selection.
> - Navy Lt. Cmdr. Erin Overcash, 34, a Naval Test Pilot School graduate and an experienced F/A-18 and F/A-18F Super Hornet pilot with 249 aircraft carrier landings. She also trained with the USA Rugby Women's National Team.
> - Katherine Spies, 43, a former Marine Corps AH-1 attack helicopter pilot and a graduate of the Naval Test Pilot School with more than 2,000 hours flying time. She was director of flight test engineering for Gulfstream Aerospace Corp. at the time of her astronaut selection.
[1] https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/nasa-selects-all-american-2025-class-of-astronaut-candidates/
[2] https://www.cbsnews.com/news/new-nasa-astronaut-class-candidates/
Nobody from the Space Force? (Score:1)
by MacMann ( 7518492 )
It's a bit odd that there's so many from the military on the list but nobody from the Space Force. Well, I guess they just need to work harder next time.
Re: Hail Trump! (Score:2)
I would love to believe there is some grand conspiracy but the odds of getting through astronaut training and selection are between 1 in 1000-1400. Do the math and tell me how that is going to work other than finding the most outstanding individuals possible.
Re: (Score:2)
Of course its easy math have a lot of high quality candidates, of course they going to be good enough but they may not be the best candidate. Especially if you have stated goals like [1]https://www.theguardian.com/us... [theguardian.com]. No conspiracy theory needed.
But if you have these types of goals then even if they are the best candidate the perception is still there if they are a woman that part of the reason they are their is because they are a woman. I don't know if it is the case but it is a possibility.
The math: at a
[1] https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/mar/21/nasa-drops-plan-first-woman-moon
Re: (Score:2)
Also, these people were already in the pipeline before Trump was sworn in.
Re: (Score:2)
This isn't amateur hour. The people listed have a lot of good reasons why they will be good astronauts. For example, 249 aircraft carrier landings is pretty good. With the printed qualifications, NASA has some really good astronauts they can pick from.
Re: (Score:2)
There were 8000 applicants, you're telling me there was no one with dark skin who was also a qualified applicant?
Consider random mutations (Re:Hail Trump!) (Score:1)
> There were 8000 applicants, you're telling me there was no one with dark skin who was also a qualified applicant?
There were 10 people chosen and people with dark skin in the USA make up about 1 out of 8 Americans. The chances of the 10 people to be a perfect representation of the racial demographics of the USA is quite small.
Then consider that NASA astronauts are required to pass a swimming test and as a general rule those with African ancestry tend to have less stamina in swimming than those with lighter skin. Think of the different races as just really big families. If we are to ignore skin color and just put one
Re: (Score:2)
> there was no one with dark skin who was also a qualified applicant?
How dark?
#e0ac69 should be good enough, but maybe #c68642 just to be sure.
Re: (Score:2)
What merit has this remark? Just because this group of candidates has no dark skinned people, what is it that you are suggesting?
I'm sure there were many black skinned qualified applicants. Just not more qualified than these 10 people.