NASA Introduces 2025 Astronaut Class

Earlier today, September 22nd, NASA introduced its astronaut class of 2025, consisting of ten Americans.

At an event at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Acting NASA Administrator Sean Duffy introduced the agency's twenty-fourth astronaut class to the world, stating:

"I’m honored to welcome the next generation of American explorers to our agency! More than 8,000 people applied – scientists, pilots, engineers, dreamers from every corner of this nation. The 10 men and women sitting here today embody the truth that in America, regardless of where you start, there is no limit to what a determined dreamer can achieve – even going to space."

The class of astronauts has recently begun training for missions to the International Space Station and for exploration around the Moon, in orbit onboard the Gateway space station or down on the lunar surface. Training for NASA's various missions is set to cover robotics, land and water survival, geology, foreign language, space medicine, and physiology.

Following training, the ten new astronauts could be assigned to missions into Earth orbit, onto the Moon, or as far out as Mars in the future.

Who's in NASA's 2025 astronaut class?

Ben Bailey

Ben Bailey is a chief warrant officer in the U.S. Army and was born and raised in Charlottesville, Virginia. He earned a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Virginia and is completing a master's in systems engineering at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California.

Bailey is a U.S. Naval Test Pilot School graduate with more than 2,000 flight hours in more than 30 different rotary and fixed-wing aircraft. At the time of his selection, he was responsible for the developmental testing of emerging technologies aboard Army rotary wing aircraft, specializing in the UH-60 Black Hawk and CH-47F Chinook.

Lauren Edgar

Lauren Edgar considers Sammamish, Washington, her hometown. She earned a bachelor's degree in Earth sciences from Dartmouth College, and her master's and doctorate in geology from the California Institute of Technology.

Edgar has served as the deputy principal investigator for the Artemis III Geology Team, helping define lunar science goals, geology activities NASA astronauts will conduct, and science operations for NASA's return to the Moon. She also spent more than 17 years supporting Mars exploration rovers and was working at the U.S. Geological Survey at the time of her selection.

Adam Fuhrmann

Adam Fuhrmann is a major in the U.S. Air Force and is from Leesburg, Virginia. He holds a bachelor's degree in aerospace engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and master's degrees in flight test engineering and systems engineering from the U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School and Purdue University, respectively.

Fuhrmann has accumulated more than 2,100 flight hours in 27 aircraft, including the F-16 and F-35, and has deployed in support of Operations Freedom's Sentinel and Resolute Support, logging 400 combat hours. At the time of his selection, he served as the director of operations for an Air Force flight test unit.

Cameron Jones

Cameron Jones is a major in the U.S. Air Force and is a native of Savanna, Illinois. He holds bachelor's and master's degrees in aerospace engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and is a graduate of both the U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School at Edwards Air Force Base in California and the U.S. Air Force Weapons School at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada.

Jones is an experienced test pilot with more than 1,600 flight hours in more than 30 different aircraft, including 150 combat hours, with the majority of his flight time in the F-22 Raptor. At the time of his selection, he was an Air Force Academic Fellow at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.

Yuri Kubo

Yuri Kubo is a native of Columbus, Indiana. He earned a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering and a master's in electrical and computer engineering from Purdue University.

Kubo spent 12 years working across various teams at SpaceX, including as launch director for Falcon 9 rocket launches, director of avionics for the Starshield program, and director of Ground Segment. Earlier in his career, he was a co-op student at NASA Johnson, where he completed multiple tours supporting the Orion spacecraft, the International Space Station, and the Space Shuttle Program, and at the time of his selection was the senior vice president of Engineering at Electric Hydrogen.

Rebecca Lawler

Rebecca Lawler is a native of Little Elm, Texas, and a former lieutenant commander in the U.S. Navy. She holds a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from the U.S. Naval Academy and master's degrees from Johns Hopkins University and the National Test Pilot School.

Lawler is a former Navy P-3 pilot and experimental test pilot with more than 2,800 flight hours in more than 45 aircraft and is a U.S. Naval Test Pilot School graduate. She also flew as a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration hurricane hunter and during NASA's Operation IceBridge, and was a test pilot for United Airlines at the time of selection.

Anna Menon

Anna Menon is from Houston and earned her bachelor's degree from Texas Christian University with a double major in mathematics and Spanish. She also holds a master's in biomedical engineering from Duke University.

Menon previously worked in the Mission Control Center at NASA Johnson, supporting medical hardware and software aboard the International Space Station. In 2024, she flew to space as a mission specialist and medical officer aboard SpaceX's Polaris Dawn, a mission that saw a new female altitude record, the first commercial spacewalk, and the completion of approximately 40 research experiments, and at the time of her selection was a senior engineer at SpaceX.

Imelda Muller

Imelda Muller considers Copake Falls, New York, her hometown, and was formerly a lieutenant in the U.S. Navy. She earned a bachelor's degree in behavioral neuroscience from Northeastern University and a medical degree from the University of Vermont College of Medicine.

Muller served as an undersea medical officer after training at the Naval Undersea Medical Institute, with experience providing medical support during Navy operational diving training at NASA's Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory. At the time of her selection, she was completing a residency in anesthesia at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore.

Erin Overcash

Erin Overcash is a lieutenant commander in the U.S. Navy and is from Goshen, Kentucky. She holds a bachelor's degree in aerospace engineering and a master's in bioastronautics from the University of Colorado, Boulder.

Overcash is a U.S. Naval Test Pilot School graduate and an experienced F/A-18E and F/A-18F Super Hornet pilot with multiple deployments, having logged more than 1,300 flight hours in 20 aircraft, including 249 carrier arrested landings. She was part of the Navy's World Class Athlete Program and trained full-time at the Olympic Training Center with the USA Rugby Women's National Team, and was training for a squadron department head tour at the time of selection.

Katherine Spies

Katherine Spies is a native of San Diego and holds a bachelor's degree in chemical engineering from the University of Southern California and a master's in design engineering from Harvard University. She is a former Marine Corps AH-1 attack helicopter pilot and experimental test pilot, with more than 2,000 flight hours in more than 30 different aircraft.

Spies is a graduate of the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School and served as UH-1Y/AH-1Z project officer and AH-1W platform coordinator during her time on active duty. At the time of her selection, she was the director of flight test engineering at Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation.