NASA is taking applications for its next class of astronaut candidates through Dec. 3, 2026, and the agency says the people chosen could end up walking on the moon, living at a lunar base, or helping build the systems that eventually carry crews to Mars. The window opened Saturday, Nov. 7, and the clock is now ticking toward the deadline, with NASA encouraging qualified U.S. citizens to get their paperwork in before time runs out.
According to the Houston Chronicle, NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said the astronauts selected through this process could walk on the moon, live and work at a moon base, and help develop systems and operations to carry crews to Mars. Those chosen will train out of NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, the same facility the Chronicle reports has long served as the home base for the astronaut corps. As reported by NASASpaceFlight, applications are open until Dec. 3, 2026.
NASA itself has said that U.S. citizens interested in joining the astronaut corps have until 11:59 p.m. EST that Thursday to submit their completed application materials, per NASA.gov. The agency expects to announce its next class of astronaut candidates in late 2027, meaning successful applicants will have a long wait between submitting their materials and finding out if they made the cut.
What It Takes to Qualify
The baseline requirements are straightforward on paper but demanding in practice. Applicants must be U.S. citizens and hold a master's degree in a STEM field, the outlet notes. That degree requirement can also be satisfied in other ways: completion of two years of work toward a STEM doctorate, a completed medical degree, or graduation from an accredited test pilot school program, the same report states.
Beyond the degree, there is a professional-experience hurdle, though sources differ on exactly how much is required. NASASpaceFlight reports that applicants generally need at least three years of related professional experience gained after completing that degree. Popular Science, however, reports that applicants need either two years of related STEM professional experience or a minimum of 1,000 hours of pilot-in-command time on jet aircraft, according to the outlet's coverage of the opening.
For pilots specifically, NASASpaceFlight reports a more detailed standard: at least 1,000 hours of pilot-in-command time, with at least 850 of those hours in high-performance jet aircraft. All applicants, regardless of background, must also be able to pass NASA's long-duration spaceflight astronaut physical, the outlet notes. Not every advanced degree counts toward the baseline, either — NASA's own application-process overview states that degrees in engineering technology are not considered qualifying for the astronaut-candidate position.
Thousands Apply, Few Make the Cut
The odds of making it into the astronaut corps are long. NASA has selected 370 people to train as astronaut candidates since the 1960s, according to the Chronicle's reporting. NASASpaceFlight also reports 370 selected, counting from the announcement of the original Mercury 7 in 1959.
The most recent class offers a sense of scale for how competitive the process has become. NASA selected 10 astronaut candidates from more than 8,000 applicants for its 2025 class, the Chronicle reports, a selection process NASA itself described as drawing more than 8,000 applicants from across the United States. NASASpaceFlight notes that the 2025 class, NASA's 24th, consisted of ten new astronaut candidates and also marked the first time that women outnumbered men in a NASA astronaut class.
Those who do make it through the selection process aren't headed straight to a launch pad. NASA astronaut candidates complete two years of training before being assigned to missions, per the Chronicle's reporting. Photographer Melissa Phillip captured NASA astronauts at a ceremony at Johnson Space Center on Aug. 28, 2026, a glimpse of the pipeline that this latest application cycle is meant to feed.
The Chronicle's coverage comes from Andrea Leinfelder, the paper's space reporter, who has covered NASA and the commercial space sector since 2020.
