CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (AP) — The U.S. space agency NASA has opened applications for a new class of astronauts, who will help expand the Artemis program, with the goal of building a permanent lunar base and flying to the Moon.
The news was announced Saturday by officials during an air show at the Kennedy Space Center, which promoted lunar exploration as well as advances in aviation and technology. NASA’s last call for new astronauts was two years ago, when only 10 were selected in September 2025 from more than 8,000 applicants. With only 32 active astronauts, the space agency needs more recruits, while seeking to extend human presence beyond low Earth orbit as soon as possible. The first phase of the lunar campaign began with the flight around the Moon by the Artemis II crew in April.
Artemis III mission commander Randy Bresnik said Saturday to The Associated Press that “we have much more work than we have astronauts.” Interested candidates have until December 3 to submit their applications. NASA expects to make the final selection by the end of 2027, with the new candidates beginning their training in early 2028 – the same year NASA aims to return astronauts to the lunar surface after an absence of more than half a century. Bresnik urged potential candidates not to delay, since by then “we will have people on the Moon.”
Bresnik and three other members of his crew will launch into orbit next summer to practice docking their capsule with one of two lunar landers, one built by Elon Musk’s SpaceX and the other by Jeff Bezos’s Blue Origin. Their mission will stay near Earth – without flying around the Moon – and will serve as a full dress rehearsal for the Artemis IV mission the following year, which will attempt to land two astronauts near the Moon’s south pole. The lunar base will take shape as more rovers, robots, structures and power grids are launched.
Patience is essential to becoming an astronaut, noted Frank Rubio of Artemis III, who holds the American record for endurance with 371 consecutive days in space. Candidates must also be U.S. citizens with university degrees and professional work experience. The two years of mandatory training can be exhausting, and several more years may pass before they finally launch into space. Rubio stressed that “it’s important that they understand that most of that work won’t be going to the Moon, right? That will be about 1% of your experience. What you’re doing is contributing to the mission of going to the Moon.” This will be the 25th class of NASA astronauts since the original “Mercury Seven” in 1959.
Source: AP News