NASA has named the subsequent 10 members of its astronaut corps, and a kind of 10 is a geologist with loads of house analysis expertise who hails from the Pacific Northwest.
Lauren Edgar — who regards Sammamish, Wash., as her hometown — is a part of the primary class of astronaut candidates wherein the ladies outnumber the boys. It’s additionally the primary class to incorporate somebody who has already gone into orbit on a business spacecraft, and who set a spaceflight file besides.
NASA’s Class of 2025 was launched right this moment at a ceremony carried out at Johnson Area Heart in Houston, with members of Congress and different VIPs in attendance.
Performing NASA Administrator Sean Duffy famous that greater than 8,000 individuals utilized for this yr’s spots. “We picked the very best and the brightest, probably the most expert, the best-looking, the very best personalities to take these 10 spots,” he mentioned. “Considered one of these 10 may truly be one of many first People to place their boots on the Mars floor, which may be very, very cool.”
Edgar, 40, mentioned she was honored to be a part of the category. She was born in Washington, D.C., however grew up in Sammamish and graduated from Skyline Excessive Faculty. After receiving her bachelor’s diploma from Dartmouth School and her Ph.D. in geology from Caltech, Edgar went on to work on the U.S. Geological Survey and at NASA.
Her profession highlights embrace main USGS’ TARGET coaching program, supporting NASA’s Mars Science Laboratory and Mars Exploration Rover missions, and serving because the deputy principal investigator on the Artemis 3 Geology Crew.
“By way of these experiences, I’ve had an opportunity to see the wonderful group that makes this all attainable,” she mentioned. “I simply need to say I’m so excited to be formally a part of the NASA household, and may’t wait to be serving on this position together with all of my new classmates right here.”
Edgar additionally admitted to a quirk or two throughout right this moment’s Q&A. “I like to do handstands in all places I am going,” she mentioned. “I grew up doing gymnastics, and I’ve all the time cherished the outside, so it type of developed from ‘climb a mountain, do a handstand on the high.’ But it surely appears to have adopted me in all places all over the world — on high of the mountains, on high of glaciers, the underside of the Grand Canyon. Just about in all places that I’ve gone, besides on this stage right this moment.”
Edgar’s classmates embrace:
Ben Bailey, 38, chief warrant officer 3, U.S. Military, was born and raised in Charlottesville, Va. He’s a U.S. Naval Take a look at Pilot Faculty graduate with greater than 2,000 flight hours in additional than 30 totally different rotary and fixed-wing plane.
Adam Fuhrmann, 35, main, U.S. Air Pressure, is from Leesburg, Va., and has amassed greater than 2,100 flight hours in 27 plane, together with the F-16 and F-35. He has deployed in assist of navy operations in Afghanistan, logging 400 fight hours.
Cameron Jones, 35, main, U.S. Air Pressure, is a local of Savanna, Unwell. He’s a check pilot with greater than 1,600 flight hours in additional than 30 totally different plane, together with 150 fight hours.
Yuri Kubo, 40, is a local of Columbus, Ind. He spent 12 years working throughout varied groups at SpaceX, together with as launch director for Falcon 9 rocket launches, director of avionics for the Starshield program, and director of floor section. On the time of his choice, Kubo was the senior vice chairman of engineering at Electrical Hydrogen.
Rebecca Lawler, 38, is a local of Little Elm, Texas, and a former lieutenant commander within the U.S. Navy. She is a former Navy P-3 pilot and experimental check pilot with greater than 2,800 flight hours in additional than 45 plane. Lawler additionally flew as a Nationwide Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration hurricane hunter and through NASA’s Operation IceBridge. She was a check pilot for United Airways on the time of her choice.
Anna Menon, 39, was born in Houston and has labored in Johnson Area Heart’s Mission Management Heart, supporting medical {hardware} and software program aboard the Worldwide Area Station. In 2024, Menon went into orbit as a mission specialist and medical officer on the privately supported Polaris Daybreak analysis mission. That SpaceX Dragon flight featured a brand new altitude file for feminine spacefliers (870.35 miles, or 1,400.7 kilometers) and the primary business spacewalk. On the time of her choice, Menon was a senior engineer at SpaceX.
Imelda Muller, 34, regards Copake Falls, N.Y., as her hometown. She previously was a lieutenant within the U.S. Navy and served as an undersea medical officer. Her expertise consists of offering medical assist throughout Navy operational diving coaching at NASA’s Impartial Buoyancy Laboratory. On the time of her choice, Muller was finishing a residency in anesthesia at Johns Hopkins Faculty of Medication.
Erin Overcash, 34, lieutenant commander, U.S. Navy, is from Goshen, Ky. A U.S. Naval Take a look at Pilot Faculty graduate, Overcash is an skilled F/A-18E and F/A-18F Tremendous Hornet pilot with a number of deployments. She has logged greater than 1,300 flight hours in 20 plane, together with 249 carrier-arrested landings. Overcash was a part of the Navy’s World Class Athlete Program and educated full-time on the Olympic Coaching Heart with the USA Rugby Girls’s Nationwide Crew.
Katherine Spies, 43, was born in San Diego. She is a former Marine Corps AH-1 assault helicopter pilot and experimental check pilot, with greater than 2,000 flight hours in additional than 30 totally different plane. On the time of her choice, Spies was the director of flight check engineering at Gulfstream Aerospace Corp.
NASA has now recruited 370 astronaut candidates since deciding on the unique Mercury Seven in 1959. This yr’s candidates will undergo years of coaching in preparation for future assignments that would effectively embrace journeys to the moon as a part of NASA’s Artemis program.
The Artemis 2 mission, due for launch subsequent yr, requires sending a crew of 4 astronauts across the moon and again. That will set the stage for a follow-up crew to the touch down on the lunar floor in the course of the Artemis 3 mission, at present scheduled for mid-2027. Various observers have questioned that timeline, and some have questioned whether or not the subsequent astronauts to land on the moon will likely be Chinese language relatively than American.
At present, Duffy insisted that NASA will get there first.
“We’re going again to the moon. This time we’re going to remain, And from what we be taught on a mission to the moon, we’re going to go to Mars, and we’re going to transcend, into the unknown,” he instructed the freshly minted astronaut candidates. “Now, some are difficult our management in house — say, just like the Chinese language. And I’ll simply inform you this: I’ll be damned if the Chinese language beat NASA, or beat America, again to the moon. We’re going to win. We love challenges. We love competitors. And we’re going to win the second house race again to the moon, with all of you taking part in that nice effort.”
