NASA opens astronaut applications for Artemis Moon missions

NASA opened applications Saturday for a new astronaut class that could live and work on the Moon under the Artemis program, announcing the call during a Kennedy Space Center air show promoting lunar exploration and advances in aviation and technology.

The application window closes at 11:59 p.m. ET on Thursday, Dec. 3, the deadline NASA set. The Guardian, NASA Watch and Around Prague reported that NASA expects the final selection to come in late 2027, when training for the next class of astronaut candidates begins. Yahoo Tech reports the agency is targeting training in early 2028. Successful candidates would help construct a lunar base and prepare for the first crewed missions to Mars.

NASA aims to keep people on the Moon over the long term and move toward a first crewed trip to Mars, Around Prague said. Artemis missions will fly astronauts to the region near the lunar South Pole to explore more of the lunar surface.

The Guardian describes the callout as part of the latest expansion of the Artemis program, linking the new astronauts to building a Moon Base. Selected applicants will join active astronauts to study spacewalking, lunar geology and high-performance aircraft operation, among other subjects. They would enter a corps with a long history of selection since the 1960s.

NASA’s selections have included people with science, technology, engineering or mathematics degrees, medical credentials, pilot training and relevant doctoral work. The agency’s current corps stands at 32 active astronauts.

All applicants must be U.S. citizens. They need a master’s degree with science, technology, engineering or mathematics among qualifying fields, or medical qualifications, pilot training, or two years of work on a relevant doctoral program. Three years of related professional experience are also required.

For doctors, medical residency can count toward astronaut experience if completed by July 2027. Pilot applicants need 750 pilot-in-command hours in a high-performance jet, 1,500 total hours in another fixed-wing aircraft, or 1,000 total hours in a rotary-wing aircraft. Candidates must pass the long-duration astronaut flight physical and demonstrate strong leadership, teamwork and communication skills. The 2025 class of astronaut candidates chosen from the previous round is still in training as the new application window opens.

NASA last opened applications in 2024, accepting 10 new astronauts out of more than 8,000 applicants in September 2025. Since the 1960s, NASA has selected 370 people to train as astronaut candidates.

The agency has not detailed how many candidates it plans to choose this time. Deputy Administrator Matt Anderson described the application window as open and the mission as waiting. NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said this is an extraordinary time to join NASA’s astronaut corps, speaking at the Kennedy Space Center air show.

He said applicants “could walk on the Moon.” Scott Tingle, chief astronaut and chair of the Astronaut Selection Board at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, said becoming an astronaut is more than a career opportunity, speaking about the legacy of explorers and missions shaping humanity’s future in space.

Isaacman said those missions will demand technical excellence, sound judgment, teamwork, and courage. NASA also selected eight companies, including Blue Origin, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and SpaceX, to compete for delivery missions. Isaacman and other agency leaders laid out NASA’s ambitions for an American Moon return in 2028, with SpaceX and Blue Origin intending to support a crewed lunar landing.

The agency will proceed with a nuclear-powered, six-wheeled rover designed to survey land, determine resource potential, identify landing sites and support future infrastructure and exploration activities for the Artemis program. Yahoo Tech describes the rover as part of the lunar infrastructure updates announced by NASA on Saturday.

NASA put out the call for a new class that will build humanity’s first permanent lunar base, according to Yahoo Tech. The agency needs more astronauts for the coming missions, and Yahoo Tech notes the current corps size as a factor behind reopening astronaut recruitment.