MORE than 12,000 people have applied to become part of Nasa’s new generation of astronauts aiming to make history in space.
New generation?
Nasa (the National Aeronautics and Space Administration) has a new “Artemis” programme, working toward landing the first woman and next man on the Moon by 2024, saying it will use “innovative technologies to explore more of the lunar surface than ever before”, learning "how to live and operate on the surface of another celestial body".
Mars?
Nasa hope the team will use the lessons learned on the Moon to aid their next mission to Mars, saying “exploration is in the DNA of our species…The Moon is a testbed for Mars. It provides an opportunity to demonstrate new technologies that could help build self-sustaining outposts off Earth.”
They have been inundated?
More than 12,000 people have applied to join the new generation - the second highest number of applications the agency's astronaut corps has ever received. The process opened on March 1 and ended on March 31.
Successful applicants have to meet the strictest criteria?
For this round of applications, Nasa increased the educational requirement for those applying from a bachelor's degree to a master's degree in a science, technology, mathematics, or engineering field and the application period was also shortened from two months to one to put the pressure on.
Applicants also need…?
The agency's basic requirements include three years of professional experience - or 1,000 hours of pilot-in-command time in jet aircraft. Candidates must be in peak health and pass Nasa's rigorous astronaut physical examination. Other skills that can aid selection include scuba diving, wilderness experience, leadership experience and languages.
Russian?
All applicants are presently required to speak Russian or learn it as most humans leaving Earth need to do so through Russian territory and a large chunk of the International Space Station has modules and operations in Russian.
At the moment?
Nasa currently has 48 active astronauts and has trained 350 astronauts since the agency began training space travellers in the 1960s.
Training involves?
Candidates undergo an intense process before the newly selected class is certified as astronauts ready for flight. Among their tasks are learning how to spacewalk, robotics and how to fly airplanes.
The astronaut candidates will fly Nasa's fleet of supersonic jets to gain piloting skills; practice for spacewalks in the 60ft deep pool at the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Centre in Texas and get basic training on space-station operations. Astronauts also deepen their leadership and general skills through geology and survival training.
What’s the timeline?
Nasa is expected to announce its final selections for the new astronaut class in mid-2021. Once selected, the astronaut candidates will spend the next two and a half years training for spaceflight and will then have to wait to be selected for a space crew. That timeline would likely mean they may not fly until after 2024, Nasa's current target for a Moon return.
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