Following a 24-month intensive training program, the Johnson Space Center in Houston, TX, welcomed the successful candidates. With 10 Americans and two from the United Arab Emirates passing the course, this crew was built to go for the long haul. Focusing their training extensively for missions aboard the International Space Station as well as future commercial play stations and preparing for eventually going to Mars.
In early March, NASA announced them on their website. “The most recent astronaut candidates wave to the crowd in this image from their March 5, 2024, graduation ceremony at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. Nicknamed “The Flies,” this cohort is now eligible for spaceflight assignments to the International Space Station, future orbiting destinations, the Moon, and beyond. Selected for training in 2021, the astronaut graduates were chosen from a pool of more than 12,000 applicants and successfully completed more than two years of required basic training, including spacewalking, robotics, space station systems, and more.”
Among those chosen was retired United States Marine Corps Major Luke Delaney. For him, like the others, this was the culmination of a lifelong dream. All of them have significant educations and backgrounds as doctors, scientists, engineers, and researchers.
With a pool of over 12,000 applicants, NASA had its choice of people. Those who made it through the initial cuts then made the move to Houston to start the physical and mental training required to go to space for NASA. For many, the big excitement is the potential to get on the mission to return to the Moon. It’s not a mission that is right around the corner, but it’s also something that you can’t just go from getting chosen to getting on a rocket either.
