NASA announces graduating class of 11 astronauts for upcoming missions to space, Moon and Mars

NASA is moving hot and heavy with plans for its upcoming Artemis mission in 2024. Starting with the construction of a base on the moon, the space agency is hoping to return astronauts – including the the first woman to set foot on the Moon in a few short years.With the agency's "Moon to Mars" approach, it is also clear that they don't intend to reinvent the wheel when they set their target for Mars afterward. From the technological elements to the astronauts, NASA intends to replicate as much of the Artemis mission in their future human Mars mission – what they're calling an "open exploration architecture". This form of mission planning will have as many capabilities that can be replicated as possible for future Mars missions, with the Artemis mission and the moon being its testbed.[caption id="attachment_7829141" align="alignnone" width="1280"]

The new class of astronauts to graduate NASA's basic training on 10 January are here: (Top row) Matthew Dominick of NASA, Kayla Barron of NASA, Warren Hoburg of NASA, and Joshua Kutryk of CSA, (Middle row) Bob Hines of NASA, Frank Rubio of NASA, Jennifer Sidey-Gibbons of CSA, Jasmin Moghbeli of NASA, and Jessica Watkins of NASA, (Bottom row) Raja Chari of NASA, Jonny Kim of NASA, Zena Cardman of NASA, and Loral O’Hara of NASA. Image: NASA[/caption]Having completed two years of basic astronaut training, the first batch are ready to train under the Artemis program after their formal graduation on 10 January. NASA has shortlisted a total of eleven candidates out of some 18,000 applicants, and two astronauts from the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) who are eligible for future spaceflight mission, which including routine missions to the International Space Station, the Artemis mission, and someday, a mission to Mars.

The chosen 11 for ISS, Artemis and Mars