NASA is looking for new astronauts – so, do you have what it takes to take the next giant leap for mankind?
If you see yourself as the next Neil Armstrong, NASA is now taking applications for new astronauts.
Potential space explorers have less than a month to submit their applications to the US space agency, which warns ‘frequent travel is required’.
New astronauts will have to undergo a grueling two-year training and evaluation period and meet a series of physical requirements.
Those selected could become part of the agency’s Artemis program, which will send astronauts to the moon later this decade.
Exploring the moon in the 2020s will help prepare humanity to eventually send astronauts to Mars in the 2030s, NASA said.
Astronaut candidates will spend about two years training in the basic skills needed to become an astronaut – from spacewalks and robotics to leadership and teamwork skills. Pictured NASA astronaut Robert L. Stewart in space, February 1984
“NASA astronauts have been traveling to space for more than 60 years and have lived there continuously since 2000,” the agency said.
“Now NASA’s Artemis program is preparing to land the first woman and the next man on the moon.
“The Orion spacecraft atop the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket will take people further into space than ever before – on missions to the moon and ultimately to Mars.”
Applications for the job are open now and will be recorded until April 2.
The full-time, permanent position in Houston, Texas, pays $152,258 (£119,394) per year.
Although you don’t have to be an astronaut to apply, NASA’s selection criteria are strict.
Applicants must be a U.S. citizen with a master’s degree in a STEM field, including engineering, biological sciences, physical sciences, computer science, or mathematics.
The requirement for a master’s degree can also be met by two years of work toward a doctorate in a related science, technology, engineering, or mathematics field; a completed Doctor of Medicine or Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine; or a completed test pilot school program.
They must also successfully complete the NASA long-term astronaut course, which includes requirements related to vision and blood pressure.
Potential space explorers have less than a month to submit their application to the US space agency, which warns ‘frequent travel required’
Astronauts from NASA and Canadian Space Agency (CSA) recognize the audience during a graduation ceremony at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, in January 2020
NASA astronaut Neil Armstrong made history when he stepped out of Apollo 11’s ‘Eagle’ landing module on July 21, 1969, leaving the first human footprints on the moon
In the photo, astronaut Buzz Aldrin Jr. poses. for a photo next to the American flag on the moon during the Apollo 11 mission, July 20, 1969. Artemis is considered Apollo’s successor
Astronaut candidates will spend about two years training in the basic skills needed to become an astronaut – from spacewalks and the use of robotics to “leadership and teamwork skills.”
After completing training, they will join the active astronaut corps and be eligible for assignment to spaceflight.
The selected candidates may be on a mission to the International Space Station (ISS) prior to a trip to the Moon or Mars under the Artemis program.
Artemis began its first mission in 2022, sending an unmanned Orion spacecraft around the moon and back.
The next mission, Artemis II, due in September 2025, will send four astronauts on a trip around the moon and back home (although the crew for this trip has already been selected).
Then, taking place in September 2026, Artemis III will actually land humans on the moon’s surface – specifically in the moon’s south polar region.
NASA isn’t the only space agency interested in the moon’s south, thanks in large part to the region’s rich water reserves that are frozen like ice.
Successful applicants can become part of NASA’s Artemis program. The next Artemis mission, Artemis II, will send four astronauts on a trip around the moon and back home, although the crew for this trip has already been selected. Pictured are the crew of Artemis II from left to right: Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen
This artist’s image shows the Orion spacecraft – with its crew inside – while in lunar orbit during Artemis II
If all goes according to plan, Artemis III will be the first time humans have walked on the moon since the Apollo 17 mission of December 1972.
In subsequent missions, NASA will “collaborate with commercial and international partners and establish the first long-term presence on the Moon.”
It adds: ‘Then we will use what we learn on and around the moon to make the next big leap: sending the first astronauts to Mars.
In preparation for the arrival of humans on Mars, the space agency is also looking for four volunteers for a simulated Mars experiment.
Volunteers will be confined for more than 12 months in Mars Dune Alpha, a 1,700-square-foot 3D-printed structure at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas.
There they will perform simulated spacewalks and provide data on their “physical and behavioral health” as they battle extreme isolation and separation from loved ones.
The futuristic building is intended to replicate the kind of structure humans will eventually build when they finally arrive on Mars.
NASA plans to send a crewed mission to Mars in the 2030s, after the first landing on the moon
Mars has become the next great step forward in humanity’s space exploration.
But before humans reach the red planet, astronauts will take a series of small steps by returning to the moon for a year-long mission.
Details of the lunar orbit mission have been revealed as part of a timeline of events leading to missions to Mars in the 2030s.
NASA has outlined its four-phase plan (pictured) that it hopes will one day allow humans to visit Mars at the Humans to Mars Summit held yesterday in Washington DC. This will entail several missions to the moon in the coming decades
In May 2017, Greg Williams, deputy associate administrator for policy and plans at NASA, outlined the space agency’s four-phase plan that it hopes will one day allow humans to visit Mars, as well as the expected time frame.
Phase one and two It will involve multiple trips to lunar space to allow for the construction of a habitat that will serve as a staging area for the journey.
The final piece of hardware delivered would be the actual Deep Space Transport vehicle that would later be used to transport a crew to Mars.
And in 2027, a year-long simulation of life on Mars will be conducted.
Phases three and four will begin after 2030 and will include long-duration crew expeditions to the Martian system and the surface of Mars.