A firefighter turned Harvard professor, a former member of the national cycle team, and a pilot who led the first-ever all-woman F-22 formation are some of the 10 newest astronauts.
The class of 2021 will report for duty in January at the Johnson Space Center in Texas, where they will undergo two years of training.
"We're going back to the Moon and we're continuing on to Mars, and so today we welcome 10 new explorers," NASA administrator Bill Nelson said at an event to welcome the recruits.
Each candidate has the right stuff, but together they represent the creed of our country: E pluribus unum.
The 10 candidates, who range in age from 32 to 45, will learn how to operate and maintain the International Space Station, train for spacewalks, develop robotics skills, safely operate a T-38 training jet, and learn Russian to communicate with their counterparts.
NASA's planned return to the Moon later this decade under the Artemis mission will include the first woman and person of color to set foot on lunar soil, and after they graduate, they could be assigned to missions aboard the ISS or deeper into space.
The field was open to US citizens who hold a master's degree in a science, technology, engineering and mathematics field, and passed an online test. The master's degree requirement can be met with a medical degree or a test pilot program.
Jessica Wittner, a lieutenant commander in the US Navy who is a test pilot and aerospace engineer, said that she first became interested in becoming an astronauts at a very young age.
I was a little girl in school who loved to play with rockets in the park by the house.
One of the few women currently flying the F-22 jet is fighter pilot Nichole Ayers who has more than 200 combat hours. The first all-woman formation of the aircraft in combat was led by Ayers.
Christopher Williams is an assistant professor at Harvard University.
Williams, who holds a doctorate in astrophysics from MIT and has served as a volunteer emergency medical technician and firefighter, split his time between helping to research better ways we can target radiation therapy for cancer and then actually working as part of a multidisciplinary team to treat patients.
Before joining NASA, Menon was the first flight surgeon for the company.
He was a first responders during the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, the 2015 earthquake in Nepal, and the 2011 Reno Air Show accident.
Christina Birch holds degrees in mathematics and biology from MIT.
She left her job as a professor to race as a track cyclist for the US team and win medals in the team pursuit and Madison race.
The last class of NASA graduated in the year of 2017: Two of its members are currently serving on the International Space Station.
US Air Force Maj. Nichole Ayers, US Marine Corps Maj. Christopher Williams, and retired. Jessica Wittner, US Air Force. Marcos Berros, US Navy Cmdr.
Agence France-Presse.
