NASA opens astronaut applications for moon missions
The gist
NASA opened astronaut applications on Nov 7, with a Dec 3 deadline and picks due late 2027.
NASA has only 32 active astronauts, so the hires could staff a Moon Base.
How it unfolded
- 2024NASA last opened astronaut applications and received more than 8,000.
- Sep 22, 2025NASA announced its 2025 Astronaut Candidate Class of 10 people at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, chosen from over 8,000 applicants.
- Apr 2026The Artemis II crew's lunar flyaround kicked off the lunar campaign.
Key terms
- Artemis
- A NASA-led international Moon exploration program aiming to return humans to the Moon and build a permanent lunar base.
- Artemis II
- Second mission of NASA's Artemis program and its first crewed flight, sending four astronauts on a flyby around the Moon.
- Artemis III
- A planned NASA crewed mission of the Artemis program, designed as a low Earth orbit demonstration flight rather than a lunar landing.
Source: Wikipedia