NASA is prepared to announce its next batch of astronaut prospects, and you can enjoy the event live.The agency will announce the 2021 astronaut class Monday (Nov. 6) at 12:30 p.m. EST (0530 GMT). The occasion will run live on NASA Television, NASA social networks channels, the NASA app and also here at Space.com.More than 12,000 U.S. residents applied in 2020 to end up being an astronaut of the “Artemis Generation”, or what NASA has actually termed the astronauts anticipated to take part in the Artemis program for moon missions and the planned lunar Gateway spaceport station. Moonbound astronauts will fly on the Orion spacecraft and Deep Space Launch system that will have their first uncrewed moon mission together no earlier than February 2022. The very first Artemis crewed objective (in lunar orbit) is anticipated in 2024 and the first landing mission in 2025. Existing agency astronauts described the “Artemis Team” will get those first seats, however, in addition to an unidentified Canadian who will fly on the 2024 Artemis II orbital objective under a contract with the Canadian Space Agency.Related: How To Become An AstronautThe 2021 astronaut class might be amongst the crew members of Artemis moon objectives, NASA states. (Image credit: NASA) While the new class would be qualified for Artemis projects eventually, its uncertain if they will reach the International Space Station– although NASAs announcement states the brand-new astronaut prospects would receive complete astronaut status and flight task to the orbiting complex after two years of training. Given that the brand-new class would receive flight projects no earlier than 2024, that pegs the timing in the very same year as the current retirement date for the ISS. Even after being appointed to a flight, the astronauts objective training would take another number of years– suggesting the earliest the brand-new class could get to the orbiting complex would be around 2026. That stated, NASA wishes to extend the ISS retirement date to 2028 or even 2030, and just revealed a bunch of business space station creates that the 2021 class might one day check out in the coming years or so.Related: How NASAs Artemis moon landing with astronauts worksThe brand-new astronaut candidates will report to the NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston in January 2022, where they will begin their two-year qualification cycle in aspects such as the Russian language, spacewalking skills, team effort in isolated conditions, piloting high-performance aircraft and learning spacecraft systems.NASAs last astronaut class of 2017, nicknamed the Turtles, consisted of 12 U.S. people split pretty evenly among male and female candidates; numerous international astronaut prospects also joined their particular nations corps at that time. The graduation event for the Turtles took place in January 2020, minus NASA astronaut prospect Robb Kulin, who resigned partway through the training.Follow Elizabeth Howell on Twitter @howellspace. Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook..
