Cabo Cañaveral, Florida – NASA presented its new astronauts on Monday: 10 scientists, engineers and test pilots chosen among more than 8,000 applicants to help explore the moon and possibly Mars.
For the first time, there were more women than men in a class of NASA astronauts. Among them were a geologist who worked at the NASA Curiosity Mars Rover, a Spacex engineer who flew on a space flight sponsored by a billionaire who had the first private space walk in the world and a former Spacex launch director.
The group will undergo two years of training before being eligible for space flights. The interim administrator Sean Duffy said that one of them could become the first person to step on Mars.
1/7 | With the sights in space: Puerto Rican engineer leaves her mark on NASA. Olga González Sanabria was the first Puerto Rican engineer to work at the NASA Glenn Research Center, in Ohio, where he arrived after completing his high school in 1979. – Supplied
It is the 24th class of NASA astronauts since the original Mercury Seven made their debut in 1959. The previous class was in 2021.
Only 370 people have been selected by NASA as astronauts, which makes it an extraordinarily small and elite group composed mostly of men. The latest additions, revealed during a ceremony at the NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston, will join 41 active American astronauts who currently serve in the body.
NASA’s flight operations director Norm Knight said the competition was hard and described the newcomers of ‘distinguished’ and ‘exceptional’.
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