NASA Astronaut Applications Open Until Dec 3 for Class 25
NASA has opened applications for its 25th astronaut class. U.S. citizens have until 11:59 p.m. EST on 3 December to apply, with final selection expected in late 2027 for Artemis and Moon Base missions.
NASA is hiring astronauts again. On Saturday, 7 November 2026, the agency opened NASA astronaut applications for its next class of candidates, and U.S. citizens have until 11:59 p.m. EST on Thursday, 3 December to apply. It is the first open call in about two years. According to the official NASA announcement, the people selected will join as America returns to the Moon, builds its planned Moon Base and lays the groundwork for the first crewed missions to Mars.
The call was made at MAX POWER, NASA’s new aerospace expo and air show at Kennedy Space Center in Florida, which wraps up today. With less than four weeks left on the clock, here is what the call says, who can apply and what happens to the people who make it through.
What NASA announced
The announcement came from NASA Headquarters together with Johnson Space Center in Houston, home of the astronaut office. Applications are open now, the deadline is 3 December, and NASA expects to make its final selection in late 2027, with training starting after that. NASA says the new astronauts will train for work in low Earth orbit, for operations on the lunar surface and for future Artemis missions.
A few numbers show how rare this job is. NASA says it has 32 active astronauts, and only 370 people have ever been selected as astronaut candidates, a count that NASA Watch repeats from the release. The last time NASA ran a call like this, in 2024, it received more than 8,000 applications and chose 10 candidates in 2025. Those ten are still in nearly two years of training. Our own back-of-the-envelope maths on NASA’s figures gives roughly one selection for every 800 applications, so even a strong applicant is facing long odds.
NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman called this an exceptional time to join the corps. Scott Tingle, the chief astronaut who chairs the Astronaut Selection Board at Johnson, framed the role as a chance to join a long line of explorers and help shape humanity’s future in space.
Who can apply
The requirements follow NASA’s usual pattern, and the education route is wider than the old stereotype of a fighter pilot. Going by the release, an applicant needs:
- Citizenship: U.S. citizenship is required.
- Education: a master’s degree in a STEM field (engineering, biological science, physical science or computer science) from an accredited institution. The alternatives are at least two years of doctoral work in one of those fields or mathematics, a medical degree, or completion of a nationally recognised Test Pilot School programme by July 2027. If Test Pilot School is the only advanced qualification, a STEM bachelor’s degree is also needed.
- Experience: at least three years of related professional experience after the qualifying degree. Pilots can count flight time instead, for example 750 hours as pilot in command of high-performance jet aircraft, and the release sets out thresholds for other aircraft types. Doctors can count their residency, which must be finished by July 2027.
- Health and skills: the candidate must pass NASA’s long-duration astronaut flight physical and show strong leadership, teamwork and communication skills.
The application itself goes through the link in NASA’s release, and the agency’s astronaut careers page explains the process step by step. The Houston Chronicle’s report summarises the same rules in plain language. One practical note for anyone applying from outside the U.S. East Coast: 11:59 p.m. EST on 3 December is 04:59 UTC on 4 December.
The timeline from here
After the 3 December deadline, NASA will review the applications and work towards a final selection in late 2027. The Associated Press, as relayed by Quartz, reports that training would begin around early 2028, which is also the year NASA intends to put astronauts back on the lunar surface. Training is mandatory and lasts about two years, and several more years can pass before a new astronaut gets a first flight.
NASA’s release describes what those years contain. Selected applicants study spacewalking, lunar geology and high-performance aircraft operations, among other subjects, and they learn to work on the Moon and to live and work beyond Earth. Simple arithmetic on the reported dates, early 2028 plus two years of training, puts the earliest first assignments around 2030. That is a long road from a form filled in this month.
Why NASA is recruiting now
The simplest reason is workload. Randy Bresnik, whom the AP identifies as the Artemis III commander, told the news agency on 7 November that “we have far more work than we have astronauts.” With only 32 people in the active corps, NASA has to staff the International Space Station, the Artemis flights and the early Moon Base at the same time. The Artemis programme is moving quickly: our report on China’s plan for a crewed Moon landing before 2030 notes that Artemis II carried four astronauts around the Moon and back in April 2026.
The call also arrives while the future of the space station is being discussed. NASASpaceFlight reports that it follows Isaacman’s comments on its Flame Trench show that he is considering extending the station’s life beyond 2030 if a commercial replacement is not ready. If that happens, the next class will have work in low Earth orbit as well as on the Moon. You can see where the station is right now on our ISS tracker, and our spacewalk tracker follows the outside work that astronauts of every class eventually train for.
It is also worth looking at who was picked last time. The 2025 group, nicknamed the Platypi, includes Anna Menon, who NASASpaceFlight describes as the first NASA astronaut candidate to have already flown on a commercial mission, Polaris Dawn. That is a sign of how varied the backgrounds in the corps have become, and how much of the work now sits alongside private spaceflight.
A race with other crewed programmes
NASA is not the only agency building a crew for the Moon. China has set out how it plans to land its taikonauts on the lunar surface before 2030, using two Long March 10 launches and a Mengzhou capsule and Lanyue lander that meet in lunar orbit. If both countries stay on schedule, the 2030s could see Chinese and American crews working on the Moon at the same time. For a closer look at the two crewed outposts already in orbit, read our guide to ISS vs Tiangong.
What if you cannot apply?
This call is for U.S. citizens only, so most of our readers around the world cannot apply to NASA. Other space agencies run their own selections with their own rules, and their official sites are the place to check for those. In the meantime there is plenty to follow from the ground. Our guide on how to see the ISS tonight shows how to spot the station with your own eyes, the rocket launch schedule lists the next crewed and uncrewed flights, and the space events page collects the dates worth watching.
Key facts at a glance
| Detail | Value |
|---|---|
| Announced | Saturday, 7 November 2026, at MAX POWER, Kennedy Space Center |
| Applications close | 11:59 p.m. EST, Thursday, 3 December 2026 (04:59 UTC, 4 December) |
| Final selection | Expected in late 2027 |
| Who can apply | U.S. citizens with a STEM master’s degree or an accepted alternative, plus three years of experience |
| Active NASA astronauts | 32 |
| Selected as candidates so far | 370 people since the original Mercury Seven in 1959 |
| Last call | More than 8,000 applications, 10 candidates chosen in 2025 |
| Training | About two years, starting after selection |
The bottom line
NASA’s new call is a small headline with a big meaning. The agency is growing its astronaut corps because the Moon, the space station and the Moon Base all need people, and the clock for this round is short: less than four weeks. Whoever is chosen will not fly for years, but the decisions made now shape who is wearing the flight suit when the next lunar landing happens. Looking up tonight? Check the Moon on our Moon phase tonight page.
Sources: NASA: NASA Seeks Next Generation of Explorers to Join Astronaut Corps; NASA Watch: NASA Opens Astronaut Applications for Its Next Class; Quartz: NASA opens astronaut applications for Artemis program through Dec. 3; Houston Chronicle: NASA is hiring astronauts; NASASpaceFlight: NASA announces search for new astronauts.
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