Skip to main content

NASA reveals how many Americans applied to become an astronaut

NASA’s recent call for astronaut wannabes led to an astonishing 12,000 people putting their name forward, with the successful candidates set to be directly involved with the space agency’s ambitious Artemis missions to the moon and beyond.

Recommended Videos

“We’ve entered a bold new era of space exploration with the Artemis program, and we are thrilled to see so many incredible Americans apply to join us,” NASA administrator John Bridenstine said this week. “The next class of Artemis Generation astronauts will help us explore more of the moon than ever before and lead us to the Red Planet.”

The space agency launched its latest recruitment round at the beginning of March, resulting in the second highest number of applicants in its history. The most it’s ever received was 18,300 in 2019, but this time around the requirements were a little more stringent, likely having an effect on numbers.

Since its very first recruitment drive in the 1960s, NASA has selected a total of 350 people to train as astronaut candidates for its increasingly challenging space missions.

It currently has 48 men and women working as fully trained astronauts, with the new intake set to serve as crew aboard spacecraft bound for multiple destinations, NASA said.

Successful candidates for the latest intake will embark on two years of initial skills training that will cover spacewalking, robotics, and spacecraft systems, as well as expeditionary behavior skills, such as leadership and teamwork.

In the near-term, the newly qualified space explorers could find themselves launching on American rockets and spacecraft bound for the International Space Station 250 miles above Earth, and also the moon in 2024. Looking further ahead, the first-ever crewed mission to Mars could be on the cards in the 2030s, NASA said.

Anne Roemer, manager of the astronaut selection board and director of human resources at the Johnson Space Center, said America’s space agency has a “strong pool of applicants to choose from,” adding, “It’s always amazing to see the diversity of education, experience, and skills that are represented in our applicants [and we’re] excited to start reviewing astronaut applications to identify the next class of astronaut candidates.”

Trevor Mogg
Contributing Editor
Not so many moons ago, Trevor moved from one tea-loving island nation that drives on the left (Britain) to another (Japan)…
Watch how astronauts drink coffee in space
A cup of coffee in space.

How Do Astronauts Drink Coffee in Space?

Like many folks, astronauts enjoy a cup of joe from time to time, but the lack of gravity means that preparing and drinking it is a little different from how you do it back on terra firma.

Read more
ISS astronauts enjoy front row seats for comet’s journey toward the sun
Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS as seen from the space station.

Two NASA astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS) have been tracking the movement of a comet heading toward the sun and using the opportunity to capture some remarkable photos and footage.

ISS inhabitants Matthew Dominick and Don Pettit -- both already renowned for their impressive space-based photographic work -- have been monitoring comet C2023-A3 (also known as Tsuchinshan-ATLAS) for the past week or so and sharing their efforts on social media.

Read more
How to watch SpaceX’s Crew-9 launch to the ISS on Saturday
Crew-7's Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft on the launchpad.

[UPDATE: SpaceX has called off Thursday's launch attempt due to an approaching storm. It's now targeting 1:17 p.m. ET on Saturday, September 28.]

SpaceX and NASA are gearing up for the Crew-9 launch that will carry an American astronaut and a Russian cosmonaut to the International Space Station (ISS) aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft.

Read more