Ten men and women are ready to begin training so they can journey to the International Space Station, the moon and beyond. The new astronaut class of 2021 was announced by NASA on Monday.
The 10 astronaut candidates, the first new astronaut class in four years, were selected from more than 12,000 applicants. The agency’s administrator, Bill Nelson, introduced them live from Ellington Field near NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, where the candidates will spend the majority of the next two years training beginning in January 2022.
“Today we welcome 10 new explorers, 10 members of the Artemis generation, NASA’s 2021 astronaut candidate class,” Nelson said. “Alone, each candidate has ‘the right stuff,’ but together they represent the creed of our country: E pluribus unum — out of many, one.”