Payam Javan: NASA announced its newest group of astronauts on Monday, selecting 10 candidates from a pool of more than 8,000 applicants. The class includes scientists, engineers, and test pilots who may one day join missions to the Moon — and potentially even Mars — under the agency’s Artemis program.

In a historic first, women outnumber men in the incoming class, marking a milestone in NASA’s astronaut selection process. Among them is a geologist who contributed to the Curiosity rover mission on Mars and a SpaceX engineer who has already traveled to orbit, taking part in a privately funded flight that included the world’s first commercial spacewalk in 2023.

The class is made up of six women and four men, reflecting NASA’s growing commitment to diversity in its astronaut corps. Officials noted that this balance better represents the broader scientific and engineering communities from which the candidates were drawn.

Over the next two years, the new recruits will undergo rigorous training, including spacecraft operations, robotics, spacewalking techniques, and survival skills. Once completed, they will become eligible for assignments on future missions — with some expected to play pivotal roles in NASA’s plans to return humans to the lunar surface and push onward to Mars.