NASA’s new astronaut candidates set to begin training in August

Twelve out of more than 18,350 applicants were selected for NASA’s 2017 Astronaut Candidate Class, marking the most candidates ever selected for a class.

The Astronaut Candidate Program is a training and evaluation period over the course of two years that is held at Jonson Space Center

The 12 selected candidates are: Kayla Barron, Raja Chari, Matthew Dominick, Bob Hines, Warren Hoburg, Jonny Kim, Jasmin Moghbeli, Frank Rubio, Jessica Watkins and Lorel O’Hara.

O’Hara is a native of Sugar Land and the second NASA astronaut ever selected to come from the Houston area.

Before the final candidates were announced June 7, applications were accepted from December 2015 through February 2016. A lengthy screening process then took place to narrow down the applicants to the final 12.

“We look forward to the energy and talent of these astronauts fueling our exciting future of discovery,” said NASA  Administrator Robert Lightfoot. “Between expanding the crew on board the space station to conduct more research than ever before, and making preparations to send humans farther into space than we’ve ever been, we are going to keep them busy.”

NASA’s acceptance rate for the training program — 0.065 percent — is lower than any university in the United States. Applicants included U.S. citizens from all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam and American Samoa.

Applicants for the program must meet the basic education requirements for NASA engineering and scientific positions: successful completion of standard professional curriculum at an accredited college or university leading to at least a bachelor’s degree with major study in an appropriate field of engineering, biological science, physical science or mathematics.

Applicants must also be able to pass the NASA long-duration astronaut physical: having at least 20/20 vision with corrective lenses or surgery and physical fitness tests to ensure that candidates are capable of doing physical tasks in their space suits.

The candidates begin training in August, where they will be required to develop the knowledge and skills required for formal mission training upon selection for a flight.

Missions that the candidates could be assigned to include performing research on the International Space Station, launching from American soil on a spacecraft built by commercial companies, and departing for deep space missions on NASA’s new Orion spacecraft.

David Garrison, associate professor of physics, is interested in the missions for which the new astronaut candidates are being trained.

“The latest astronaut candidates chosen are intended to participate in long-duration space travel, unlike previous classes that were trained to fly to and from the International Space Station,” Garrison said.

Graduation from the Astronaut Candidate Program will require successful completion of: International Space Station systems training, extravehicular activity skills training, robotics skills training, Russian language training and aircraft flight readiness training.

However, candidates who are selected for the training program are not guaranteed to become an astronaut. Candidates who are not selected as astronauts may be placed in other positions within NASA, depending upon agency requirements and labor constraints at that time.

For more information on the program, contact the Astronaut Selection Office at astronaut.selection@nasa.gov or call 281-483-5907.