With the addition of these 10 members of the 2021 astronaut candidate class, NASA now has selected 360 astronauts considering that the original Mercury Seven in 1959.
” Weve made many huge leaps throughout the last 60 years, fulfilling President Kennedys goal of landing a male on the moon,” said Johnson center Director Vanessa Wyche. “Today we reach even more into the stars as we press forward to the Moon once again and on to Mars with NASAs most recent astronaut candidate class.”
Upon conclusion, they might be appointed to objectives that involve carrying out research aboard the space station, introducing from American soil on spacecraft built by industrial companies, along with deep area missions to locations including the Moon on NASAs Orion spacecraft and Space Launch System rocket.
” Each of you has fantastic backgrounds,” Pam Melroy, previous NASA astronaut and NASAs deputy administrator, informed the candidates. “You bring variety in many forms to our astronaut corps and you stepped up to one of the highest and most interesting kinds of public service.”
Candidates consisted of U.S. citizens from all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and U.S. territories Puerto Rico, Guam, the Virgin Islands, and Northern Mariana Islands. For the very first time ever, NASA needed prospects to hold a masters degree in a STEM field and utilized an online evaluation tool. The men and females selected for the brand-new astronaut class represent the diversity of America and the career paths that can lead to a location in Americas astronaut corps.
NASA revealed its 2021 Astronaut Candidate Class on December. 6, 2021. The 10 candidates, envisioned here at NASAs Johnson Space Center in Houston are: U.S. Air Force Maj. Nichole Ayers, Christopher Williams, U.S. Marine Corps Maj. (retired.) Luke Delaney, U.S. Navy Lt. Cmdr. Jessica Wittner, U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Anil Menon, U.S. Air Force Maj. Marcos Berríos, U.S. Navy Cmdr. Jack Hathaway, Christina Birch, U.S. Navy Lt. Deniz Burnham, and Andre Douglas. Credit: NASA
The 2021 astronaut candidates are:
Nichole Ayers, 32, major, U.S. Air Force, hails Colorado who finished from the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado, in 2011 with a bachelors degree in mathematics with a minor in Russian. She later made a masters degree in computational and used mathematics from Rice University. Ayers is a knowledgeable combat pilot with more than 200 combat hours and more than 1,150 hours of total flight time in the T-38 and the F-22 Raptor fighter jet. One of the couple of females currently flying the F-22, in 2019 Ayers led the first ever all-woman formation of the aircraft in battle.
Marcos Berríos, 37, major, U.S. Air Force, grew up in Guaynabo, Puerto Rico. While a reservist in the Air National Guard, Berríos worked as an aerospace engineer for the U.S. Army Aviation Development Directorate at Moffett Federal Airfield in California.
Christina Birch, 35, matured in Gilbert, Arizona, and graduated from the University of Arizona with a bachelors degree in mathematics and a bachelors degree in biochemistry and molecular biophysics. After making a doctorate in biological engineering from MIT, she taught bioengineering at the University of California, Riverside, and clinical writing and communication at the California Institute of Technology. She became an embellished track bicyclist on the U.S. National Team.
Deniz Burnham, 36, lieutenant, U.S. Navy, calls Wasilla, Alaska, house. A former intern at NASAs Ames Research Center in Silicon Valley, California, Burnham serves in the U.S. Navy Reserves. She earned a bachelors degree in chemical engineering from the University of California, San Diego, and a masters degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. Burnham is a skilled leader in the energy industry, handling onsite drilling jobs throughout North America, including in Alaska, Canada, and Texas.
Luke Delaney, 42, significant, retired, U.S. Marine Corps, grew up in Debary, Florida. Delaney most recently worked as a research study pilot at NASAs Langley Research Center, in Hampton, Virginia, where he supported air-borne science missions. Including his NASA career, Delaney logged more than 3,700 flight hours on 48 designs of jet, propeller, and rotary wing aircraft.
He earned a bachelors degree in mechanical engineering from the U.S. Coast Guard Academy, a masters degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Michigan, a masters degree in marine architecture and marine engineering from the University of Michigan, a masters degree in electrical and computer engineering from Johns Hopkins University, and a doctorate in systems engineering from the George Washington University. Douglas served in the U.S. Coast Guard as a marine architect, salvage engineer, damage control assistant, and officer of the deck.
Jack Hathaway, 39, commander, U.S. Navy, is a native of Connecticut. He earned bachelors degrees in physics and history from the U.S. Naval Academy and finished graduate studies at Cranfield University in England and the U.S. Naval War College.
Anil Menon, 45, lieutenant colonel, U.S. Air Force, was born and raised in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He was SpaceXs very first flight surgeon, assisting to release the companys very first humans to space during NASAs SpaceX Demo-2 objective and developing a medical organization to support the human system during future missions. Prior to that, he served NASA as the team flight cosmetic surgeon for various explorations taking astronauts to the International Space Station.
He graduated from Stanford University in 2005 with a bachelors degree in physics and a doctorate in physics from MIT in 2012, where his research study was in astrophysics. Williams is a board-certified medical physicist, completing his residency training at Harvard Medical School before joining the faculty as a scientific physicist and researcher. He most recently worked as a medical physicist in the Radiation Oncology Department at the Brigham and Womens Hospital and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston.
Jessica Wittner, 38, lieutenant commander, U.S. Navy, hails California with a prominent career serving on active duty as a marine pilot and test pilot. She holds a Bachelor of Science in aerospace engineering from the University of Arizona, and a Master of Science in aerospace engineering from the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School. Wittner was commissioned as a naval officer through an enlisted-to-officer program and has served operationally flying F/A -18 fighter jets with Strike Fighter Squadron 34 in Virginia Beach, Virginia, and Strike Fighter Squadron 151 in Lemoore, California. A graduate of U.S. Naval Test Pilot School, she likewise worked as a test pilot and task officer with Air Test and Evaluation Squadron 31 in China Lake, California.
NASA astronaut Mike Hopkins, Expedition 38 Flight Engineer, on December 24, 2013, spacewalk. Credit: NASA
NASA has chosen 10 brand-new astronaut prospects from a field of more than 12,000 applicants to represent the United States and work for humankinds benefit in area.
NASA Administrator Bill Nelson presented the members of the 2021 astronaut class, the very first new class in four years, throughout a Monday, December 6 occasion at Ellington Field near NASAs Johnson Space Center in Houston.
” Today we welcome 10 brand-new explorers, 10 members of the Artemis generation, NASAs 2021 astronaut prospect class,” Nelson said. “Alone, each prospect has the best stuff, but together they represent the creed of our nation: E pluribus unum– out of lots of, one.”
Candidates included U.S. people from all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and U.S. territories Puerto Rico, Guam, the Virgin Islands, and Northern Mariana Islands. Luke Delaney, U.S. Navy Lt. Cmdr. Jessica Wittner, U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Anil Menon, U.S. Air Force Maj. Marcos Berríos, U.S. Navy Cmdr. Jack Hathaway, Christina Birch, U.S. Navy Lt. Deniz Burnham, and Andre Douglas. Nichole Ayers, 32, significant, U.S. Air Force, is a native of Colorado who finished from the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado, in 2011 with a bachelors degree in mathematics with a small in Russian. A former intern at NASAs Ames Research Center in Silicon Valley, California, Burnham serves in the U.S. Navy Reserves. He earned bachelors degrees in physics and history from the U.S. Naval Academy and completed graduate research studies at Cranfield University in England and the U.S. Naval War College.
The astronaut prospects will report for duty at Johnson in January 2022 to begin 2 years of training. Astronaut prospect training falls into five significant classifications: operating and maintaining the International Space Stations complex systems, training for spacewalks, developing intricate robotics skills, securely running a T-38 training jet, and Russian language abilities.
