{"id":289345,"date":"2025-09-23T02:45:29","date_gmt":"2025-09-22T16:45:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?guid=0d8c57d99c40d79d5a1d997e5edcf7e6"},"modified":"2025-09-23T02:45:29","modified_gmt":"2025-09-22T16:45:29","slug":"nasa-selects-all-american-2025-class-of-astronaut-candidates","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?p=289345","title":{"rendered":"NASA Selects All-American 2025 Class of Astronaut Candidates\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"
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NASA announced its 2025 Astronaut Candidate Class on Sept. 22, 2025. The 10 candidates, pictured here at NASA\u2019s Johnson Space Center in Houston are: U.S. Army CW3 Ben Bailey, U.S. Air Force Maj. Cameron Jones, Katherine Spies, Anna Menon, U.S. Navy Lt. Cmdr. Erin Overcash, U.S. Air Force Maj. Adam Fuhrmann, Dr. Lauren Edgar, Yuri Kubo, Rebecca Lawler, and Dr. Imelda Muller.<\/div>\n
Credit: NASA<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Lee este comunicado de prensa en espa\u00f1ol aqu\u00ed<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

NASA\u2019s 10 new astronaut candidates were introduced Monday following a competitive selection process of more than 8,000 applicants from across the United States. The class now will complete nearly two years of training before becoming eligible for flight assignments supporting future science and exploration missions to low Earth orbit, the Moon, and Mars.<\/p>\n

Acting NASA Administrator Sean Duffy welcomed the all-American 2025 astronaut candidate class during a ceremony at the agency\u2019s Johnson Space Center in Houston.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m honored to welcome the next generation of American explorers to our agency! More than 8,000 people applied \u2013 scientists, pilots, engineers, dreamers from every corner of this nation. The 10 men and women sitting here today embody the truth that in America, regardless of where you start, there is no limit to what a determined dreamer can achieve \u2013 even going to space,\u201d said Duffy. \u201cTogether, we\u2019ll unlock the Golden Age of exploration.\u201d<\/p>\n

The agency\u2019s 24th astronaut class reported for duty at NASA Johnson in mid-September and immediately began their training. Their curriculum includes instruction and skills development for complex operations aboard the International Space Station, Artemis missions to the Moon, and beyond. Specifically, training includes robotics, land and water survival, geology, foreign language, space medicine and physiology, and more, while also conducting simulated spacewalks and flying high-performance jets.<\/p>\n

After graduation, the 2025 class will join the agency\u2019s active astronaut corps. Active astronauts are conducting science research aboard the space station while preparing for the transition to commercial space stations and the next great leaps in human exploration at the Moon and Mars. The candidates\u2019 operational expertise, scientific knowledge, and technical backgrounds are essential to advancing NASA\u2019s deep space exploration goals and sustaining a long-term human presence beyond low Earth orbit.<\/p>\n

The 2025 astronaut candidates are:<\/p>\n

Ben Bailey<\/strong>, 38, chief warrant officer 3, U.S. Army, was born and raised in Charlottesville, Virginia. He has a bachelor\u2019s degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Virginia and is completing a master\u2019s in systems engineering at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California. Bailey is a U.S. Naval Test Pilot School graduate with more than 2,000 flight hours in more than 30 different rotary and fixed-wing aircraft. At the time of his selection, Bailey was responsible for the developmental testing of emerging technologies aboard Army rotary wing aircraft, specializing in the UH-60 Black Hawk and CH-47F Chinook.<\/p>\n

Lauren Edgar<\/strong>, 40, considers Sammamish, Washington, her hometown. She earned a bachelor\u2019s degree in Earth sciences from Dartmouth College, and her master\u2019s and doctorate in geology from the California Institute of Technology. Edgar has served as the deputy principal investigator for the Artemis III Geology Team. In this role, she helped define lunar science goals, geology activities NASA astronauts will conduct, and science operations for NASA\u2019s return to the Moon. She also spent more than 17 years supporting Mars exploration rovers. She was working at the U.S. Geological Survey at the time of her selection.<\/p>\n

Adam Fuhrmann<\/strong>, 35, major, U.S. Air Force, is from Leesburg, Virginia, and has accumulated more than 2,100 flight hours in 27 aircraft, including the F-16 and F-35. He holds a bachelor\u2019s degree in aerospace engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and master\u2019s degrees in flight test engineering and systems engineering from the U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School and Purdue University, respectively. He has deployed in support of Operations Freedom\u2019s Sentinel and Resolute Support, logging 400 combat hours. At the time of his selection, Fuhrmann served as the director of operations for an Air Force flight test unit.<\/p>\n

Cameron Jones<\/strong>, 35, major, U.S. Air Force, is a native of Savanna, Illinois. He holds bachelor\u2019s and master\u2019s degrees in aerospace engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He is also a graduate of the U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School at Edwards Air Force Base in California and the U.S. Air Force Weapons School at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada. He\u2019s an experienced test pilot with more than 1,600 flight hours in more than 30 different aircraft, including 150 combat hours. The majority of his flight time is in the F-22 Raptor. At the time of his selection, Jones was an Air Force Academic Fellow at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.<\/p>\n

Yur<\/strong>i Kubo<\/strong>, 40, is a native of Columbus, Indiana. He earned a bachelor\u2019s degree in electrical engineering and a master\u2019s in electrical and computer engineering from Purdue University. He spent 12 years working across various teams at SpaceX, including as launch director for Falcon 9 rocket launches, director of avionics for the Starshield program, and director of Ground Segment. Earlier in his career, Kubo was a co-op student at NASA Johnson, where he completed multiple tours supporting the Orion spacecraft, the International Space Station, and the Space Shuttle Program. At the time of his selection, Kubo was the senior vice president of Engineering at Electric Hydrogen.<\/p>\n

Rebecca Lawler<\/strong>, 38, is a native of Little Elm, Texas, and a former lieutenant commander in the U.S. Navy. She is a former Navy P-3 pilot and experimental test pilot with more than 2,800 flight hours in more than 45 aircraft. Lawler holds a bachelor\u2019s degree in mechanical engineering from the U.S. Naval Academy and master\u2019s degrees from Johns Hopkins University and the National Test Pilot School. She also is a U.S. Naval Test Pilot School graduate. Lawler also flew as a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration hurricane hunter and during NASA\u2019s Operation IceBridge. She was a test pilot for United Airlines at the time of selection.<\/p>\n

Anna Menon<\/strong>, 39, is from Houston and earned her bachelor\u2019s degree from Texas Christian University with a double major in mathematics and Spanish. She also holds a master\u2019s in biomedical engineering from Duke University. Menon previously worked in the Mission Control Center at NASA Johnson, supporting medical hardware and software aboard the International Space Station. In 2024, Menon flew to space as a mission specialist and medical officer aboard SpaceX\u2019s Polaris Dawn. The mission saw a new female altitude record, the first commercial spacewalk, and the completion of approximately 40 research experiments. At the time of her selection, Menon was a senior engineer at SpaceX.<\/p>\n

Imelda Muller<\/strong>, 34, considers Copake Falls, New York, her hometown. She formerly was a lieutenant in the U.S. Navy and served as an undersea medical officer after training at the Naval Undersea Medical Institute. Muller earned a bachelor\u2019s degree in behavioral neuroscience from Northeastern University and a medical degree from the University of Vermont College of Medicine. Her experience includes providing medical support during Navy operational diving training at NASA\u2019s Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory. At the time of her selection, Muller was completing a residency in anesthesia at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore.<\/p>\n

Erin Overcash<\/strong>, 34, lieutenant commander, U.S. Navy, is from Goshen, Kentucky. She holds a bachelor\u2019s degree in aerospace engineering and a master\u2019s in bioastronautics from the University of Colorado, Boulder. A U.S. Naval Test Pilot School graduate, Overcash is an experienced F\/A-18E and F\/A-18F Super Hornet pilot with multiple deployments. She has logged more than 1,300 flight hours in 20 aircraft, including 249 carrier arrested landings. Overcash was part of the Navy\u2019s World Class Athlete Program and trained full-time at the Olympic Training Center with the USA Rugby Women\u2019s National Team. She was training for a squadron department head tour at the time of selection.<\/p>\n

Katherine Spies<\/strong>, 43, is a native of San Diego and holds a bachelor\u2019s degree in chemical engineering from the University of Southern California and a master\u2019s in design engineering from Harvard University. She is a former Marine Corps AH-1 attack helicopter pilot and experimental test pilot, with more than 2,000 flight hours in more than 30 different aircraft. A graduate of the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School, she served as UH-1Y\/AH-1Z project officer and AH-1W platform coordinator during her time on active duty. At the time of her selection, Spies was the director of flight test engineering at Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation.<\/p>\n

With the addition of these 10 individuals, NASA now has recruited 370 astronaut candidates since selecting the original Mercury Seven in 1959.<\/p>\n

\u201cToday, our mission propels us even further as we prepare for our next giant leap with NASA\u2019s newest astronaut candidate class,\u201d said Vanessa Wyche, director of NASA Johnson. “Representing America’s best and brightest, this astronaut candidate class will usher in the Golden Age of innovation and exploration as we push toward the Moon and Mars.”<\/p>\n

The astronaut candidates will be available to speak with media virtually and in-person on Tuesday, Oct. 7. Media interested in this limited opportunity should contact the NASA Johnson Newsroom at 281-483-5111 or jsccommu@mail.nasa.gov<\/a>. NASA\u2019s media accreditation policy<\/a> is available online. <\/p>\n

Find photos and additional information about the new astronaut candidates at:<\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/astronauts<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

-end-<\/p>\n

Bethany Stevens \/ Jimi Russell
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1100
bethany.c.stevens@nasa.gov<\/a> \/ james.j.russell@nasa.gov<\/a><\/p>\n

Chelsey Ballarte
Johnson Space Center, Houston
281-483-5111
chelsey.n.ballarte@nasa.gov<\/a><\/p>\n

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