NASA announced its newest class of astronaut candidates, the first in the agency’s history to include more women than men. The 2025 group comprises six women and four men selected from a highly competitive pool of applications. The class include engineers, scientists, and military veterans, demonstrating NASA’s continued emphasis on various skill sets for future missions.

Among the candidates are two former SpaceX employees, including Anna Menon, who made history in 2024 as part of the Polaris Dawn mission, which included the first commercial spacewalk. Menon is the first NASA astronaut candidate to have flown into orbit prior to selection, marking another milestone for the agency.

This selection aligns with NASA’s Artemis program, which aims to return humans to the moon and establish a long-term presence there before planning for missions to Mars. Officials emphasised the need to retain America’s leadership in space exploration as competition rises globally, particularly with China’s own lunar ambitions.

The newly picked applicants will go through two years of rigorous training at NASA’s Johnson Space Centre in Houston. After completion, they will be eligible for deployments on low Earth orbit missions, lunar expeditions, and possibly future Mars exploration.