NASA unveils 10 new astronauts, including potential first on Mars

NASA on Friday unveiled its 24th class of astronaut candidates, selecting 10 individuals — four men and six women — from more than 8,000 applications. The recruits span science, engineering, piloting and medicine and will enter about two years of training to qualify for spaceflight missions. While Artemis program goals remain the immediate focus, some observers describe the class as a pipeline that could contribute to future commercial platforms or even a potential first crew on Mars. At a ceremony at NASA's Johnson Space Center, administrator Sean Duffy said the new recruits embody the belief that determined dreamers can reach space and help usher in a new era of exploration.

The ceremony at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston announced the names of the new astronaut candidates: Ben Bailey, Dr. Lauren Edgar, Adam Fuhrmann, Cameron Jones, Yuri Kubo, Rebecca Lawler, Anna Menon, Imelda Muller, Erin Overcash and Katherine Spies. The group includes six women and four men and brings together a mix of military pilots, scientists, engineers and a former Navy helicopter crew member. The ten recruits will now undergo two years of rigorous training to become eligible for human spaceflight missions and could later participate in NASA’s lunar or Mars programs as opportunities arise.

Ben Bailey, 38, is a chief warrant officer in the U.S. Army and an experienced test pilot with more than 2,000 flight hours across 30 different aircraft. He earned a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Virginia and is pursuing a master’s in systems engineering at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California. His background includes testing experimental technologies for Army helicopters and working as a nuclear engineer developing propulsion concepts for aircraft carriers.

Dr. Lauren Edgar, 40, is a geologist who spent 17 years supporting Mars exploration rovers as part of NASA’s Mars Science Laboratory program and helped train NASA astronauts. She earned a bachelor’s degree in Earth sciences from Dartmouth College and holds a master’s degree and Ph.D. in geology from the California Institute of Technology. She has served as deputy principal investigator for Artemis III’s Geology Team and has been recognized with NASA group achievement awards for her planetary research work. She was born in Washington, D.C., and regards Sammamish, Washington, as her hometown.

Adam Fuhrmann, 35, is an engineer and Major in the U.S. Air Force with more than 2,100 flight hours, including 400 hours of combat time. A graduate of MIT with degrees in aerospace engineering and political science, he earned a master’s in flight test engineering and a second master’s in systems engineering from Purdue University. He has flown 27 aircraft types, primarily the F‑16 and F‑35, and most recently served as director of operations for a flight test unit after a tour at Edwards Air Force Base. He hails from Leesburg, Virginia, and is married with three children.

Cameron Jones, 35, is an Air Force Academic Fellow at DARPA and a former experimental test pilot, with more than 1,600 flight hours and 150 combat hours. He earned a master’s degree in aerospace engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign and another master’s in flight test engineering from the U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School at Edwards Air Force Base. Jones has held leadership roles in test flight operations and is married with a daughter. Born in Iowa, he has described Savanna, Illinois, as his hometown.

Yuri Kubo, 40, is an electrical and computer engineer who spent more than a decade overseeing commercial rocket launches for SpaceX. He previously interned at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, supporting Orion, the International Space Station and the Space Shuttle Program. He earned a master’s in electrical and computer engineering from Purdue University and has served as launch director for Falcon 9 missions at Vandenberg Space Force Base. At the time of selection, he was the senior vice president of Engineering at Electric Hydrogen. Kubo is married with two children and enjoys sports, outdoor activities and playing the piano.

Rebecca “Becky” Lawler, 38, is a former Navy lieutenant commander and a veteran test pilot. She earned a bachelor’s in mechanical engineering from the U.S. Naval Academy and a master’s in space systems engineering from Johns Hopkins University, along with participation in the U.S. Navy Test Pilot School at Patuxent River. Lawler served 11 years as a P‑3C Orion pilot before transferring to NOAA as a hurricane hunter and test pilot in 2020. She later worked as a pilot for United Airlines, accumulating more than 2,800 total flight hours across 45 aircraft. Lawler is from Little Elm, Texas, is married and has one child.

Anna Menon, 39, is the only member of the cohort who has previously flown to space. In 2024, she served as a mission specialist and medical officer aboard SpaceX’s Polaris Dawn mission—the first commercial spacewalk. Menon earned a dual bachelor’s degree in mathematics and Spanish from Texas Christian University and a master’s in biomedical engineering from Duke University. She later worked at NASA Johnson Space Center and SpaceX in roles related to crew operations, robotics and flight control. Menon is married to fellow NASA astronaut Anil Menon and has two children.

Imelda Muller, 34, is a former Navy lieutenant who served as an undersea medical officer and led research in decompression safety and saturation diving. She earned a bachelor’s in behavioral neuroscience from Northeastern University and a medical degree from the University of Vermont, with residency in anesthesia at Johns Hopkins. Muller has balanced dual roles in medicine and aerospace, including leadership positions in Navy medicine and ongoing research related to human performance in extreme environments. She was born in Mineola, New York, and considers Copake Falls, New York, her hometown.

Erin “LOFT” Overcash, 34, is an experimental test pilot with 1,300 flight hours in 20 aircraft and 249 carrier-arrested landings. A University of Colorado, Boulder, graduate with a bachelor’s in aerospace engineering and a master’s in bioastronautics, she also completed the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School. Overcash is a former member of the U.S. Navy’s World Class Athlete Program and the USA Rugby Women’s National Team, with multiple deployments in the Pacific and Middle East. She is from Goshen, Kentucky, and is married to another naval aviator.

Katherine Spies, 43, is an AH‑1 attack helicopter pilot and Marine Corps test pilot with more than 2,000 flight hours. She earned a bachelor’s in chemical engineering from the University of Southern California and a master’s in design engineering from Harvard University, plus time at the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School. Spies logged more than 300 hours of combat and later worked at Amazon Prime Air on autonomous drone systems before serving as the director of flight test engineering at Gulfstream Aerospace. She is a native of San Diego, California, and an avid skier who once taught alpine skiing in Utah.

The ten recruits will now undergo two years of intensive training to qualify for spaceflight missions. Some could be assigned to NASA’s lunar or Mars programs in the coming years as the agency pursues a broader human spaceflight agenda. NASA has outlined Mars as a long-term objective that complements the Artemis program’s return to the Moon, with a plan to put humans on Mars by roughly 2030 at the latest. The envisioned Mars mission would involve a six- to seven-month transit each way and potentially up to 500 days on the planet’s surface, depending on mission design and orbital logistics. The class’s diverse backgrounds underscore NASA’s effort to build a broad, capable team for a multi‑planet future.

The announcement also highlighted the broader context of NASA’s exploration roadmap. Artemis I, an uncrewed lunar test flight, launched in November 2022, and Artemis II is planned to be a crewed lunar flyby in 2026. Artemis III aims for a crewed lunar landing in the mid‑to‑late 2020s, with Artemis IV targeting the construction of the first lunar space station. In parallel with these lunar missions, NASA has signaled interest in advancing commercial partnerships and developing capabilities that could support a long-duration presence on the Moon and, ultimately, human exploration of Mars. The class’s graduates are expected to participate in a variety of missions over the coming decade, as opportunities arise in NASA’s evolving human spaceflight program.