Key facts
- NASA is accepting applications for a new astronaut class to support the Artemis lunar program.
- The agency has 32 active astronauts and says it has more work than astronauts.
- Applications close on December 3, 2026, with final selection expected by late 2027.
- New candidates would begin training by early 2028, the year NASA intends to return astronauts to the lunar surface.
- Candidates must be US citizens with college degrees and professional work experience.
NASA is accepting applications for a new astronaut class that will support the Artemis program, the agency's effort to return crews to the lunar surface and build a permanent lunar base. Officials announced the call on November 7, 2026, during an air show at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida promoting lunar exploration and advances in aviation and technology.
The agency has 32 active astronauts. Its previous call for candidates, two years earlier, drew more than 8,000 applicants, of whom 10 were selected in September 2025. Artemis III commander Randy Bresnik told the Associated Press: "We have far more work than we have astronauts."
Applications close on December 3, 2026. NASA expects to make its final selection by late 2027, with new candidates beginning training by early 2028, the year the agency intends to return astronauts to the lunar surface. Candidates must be US citizens with college degrees and professional work experience, and face two years of mandatory training.
Bresnik and three crewmates are to fly to orbit in summer 2027 to practice docking their capsule with lunar landers built by SpaceX and Blue Origin, a rehearsal for the Artemis IV mission that will attempt to land two astronauts near the lunar south pole. Frank Rubio, also an Artemis III crew member, told the AP that most of an astronaut's work is not going to the moon: "That will be about 1% of your experience." This will be NASA's 25th astronaut class since the Mercury Seven in 1959.