NASA on Monday inaugurated 10 new astronauts who could walk on the moon within the next decade, or carry out research on the International Space Station.
The first American human spaceflight program, Project Mercury, was started in 1959 by seven astronauts who were picked by the military. NASA prepares for its most daunting challenges in space since Americans landed on the moon during the Apollo program of the 1960s and ’70s, as the latest astronaut candidate group comes. The program to return astronauts to the moon is the focus of the agency.
Bill Nelson, the NASA administrator, said on a stage during an indoor ceremony that they welcomed 10 new explorers, 10 members of the Artemis generation. The remarks of Mr. Nelson and other speakers were interrupted by a heavy storm.
Each of these candidates has the right stuff, but they are all part of the same creed of our country.
There are 10 astronauts for 2021.
Nichole Ayers is from Divide, Colo.
Marcos Berros is from Puerto Rico.
Christina Birch is from Gilbert, Arizona.
Wasilla, Alaska, is home to Deniz Burnham.
DeBary, Fla., is home to the man named Luke Delaney.
The person is Andre Douglas, Chesapeake, Va.
Jack Hathaway is from South Windsor, Conn.
Menon is from Minneapolis.
Christopher Williams is from Potomac, Md.
Jessica Wittner is from California.
Several Air Force and Navy pilots are among the candidates. Dr. Menon was the medical director for Crew Dragon, the capsule that ferries American astronauts to the space station. Dr. Birch was a track cyclist in the Tokyo Olympics. Dr. Williams has been involved in cancer treatment at two Boston hospitals.
Mr. Nelson said that two people from the United Arab Emirates would train with the NASA astronauts.
Some of the astronauts were asked what spaceflight assignment they hoped to receive. Dr. Berros said that he could be assigned any mission.
He thinks it would be great if NASA could scale up the Ingenuity helicopter that is currently flying on Mars to fit two people. Since arriving on the red planet in February, the robotic device has completed 16 flights.
Dr. Berros said that he and Ms. Burnham would love to take it for a spin for science, sparking laughter from the audience, a mix of astronauts candidates' families, lawmakers and NASA employees.
The newest class of astronauts were announced on NASA TV during a ceremony in Houston on Monday.
12,000 people applied for this year's group. Wealthy tourists and private astronauts are more frequently launching to space aboard both government and privately owned spaceships, as the new astronauts are being sworn in during a surge in human spaceflight activity.
Yusaku Maezawa, a Japanese billionaire, and a film producer will be the first tourists to visit the International Space Station on Wednesday. Blue Origin, the space company owned by Jeff Bezos, will send six passengers, including Michael Strahan, the TV host and former New York Giants defensive end, on a brief jaunt to the edge of space.
After Monday, the astronauts will begin two years of training at the Johnson Space Center, where they will learn to conduct spacewalks outside of the space station as well as the ins and outs of new commercial spacecraft, among hundreds of other tasks expected of government astronauts. After graduating from training, they could get assignments to spend months on the space station or walk on the moon under NASA's Artemis program, which aims to conduct its first crewed moon landing in 2025.
The astronauts were picked based on a number of criteria, including a master's degree in a field like science, technology, engineering and math, or a two year program in a PhD program related to an astronauts duties.
Other space agencies are changing their requirements to get more astronauts. In November, JAXA announced that it would be recruiting its first group of seven astronauts in 13 years. NHK, Japan's state-owned broadcasting network, says that the agency dropped its requirement that applicants have a four-year university degree in the field of natural science. The European Space Agency began its next round of recruitment in February. In its announcement, it said it wanted to include more women and people with disabilities in its pool of candidates.
The last NASA class was inducted. Two of its members are currently in space. The 22nd class could be eligible for trips to the moon.
