NASA Astronaut Group 23

NASA Astronaut Group 23 (nicknamed The Flies) was announced on December 6, 2021, with the class reporting for duty some time in 2022. Twelve astronaut candidates were selected, including seven men and five women.

The Flies
Year selected	2021
Number selected	12
← 22 (2017) 24 (2024) →

History

Group patch

NASA announced the creation of this astronaut group in February 2020 and accepted applications for astronaut hires during the month of March 2020. For this class, the educational requirements increased to be at minimum a master's degree in a STEM field (engineering, biological science, physical science, computer science, or mathematics) from an accredited institution; in classes prior to this, a bachelor's degree was all that was required. Additionally, a 2-hour online assessment was required for the first time.^[1] Over 12,000 applications were received by NASA, coming from all 50 states plus the District of Columbia and four U.S. territories.^[2]

The Group 23 astronaut candidates were originally planned to arrive at the Johnson Space Center in Houston for training in the summer of 2021, and when their approximately two-year-long training program is complete, they become available for future missions to the International Space Station in low Earth orbit aboard NASA or commercial crew vehicles, the Moon via the Artemis program, and Mars.^[1] However, due to complications with interviewing potential applicants in person due to COVID-19 restrictions at JSC, the announcement of the new class has been pushed back twice:

• In August 2020, the agency revised the timetable, pushing the final announcement date from summer to late 2021.^[3] As of the August 2020 revision, several rounds of interviews were to have been conducted in Houston between February and September 2021, with the announcement of the Class of 2021 in October or November and their arrival at JSC for training in December.^[4]
• In March 2021, the agency again revised the timetable: on-site interviews will be scheduled for summer 2021, with the new class announcement in late 2021 and the new class reporting in 2022.^{[5][needs update]}

Two Emirati candidates, Nora Al Matrooshi and Mohammad Al Mulla, selected by the MBRSC, will take part in training as international partner astronauts. Hazza Al Mansouri – who already went to space on board Soyuz MS-15 – and candidate Sultan Al Neyadi were already training at NASA since before the 23rd group was chosen, but only Nora and Mohammad are considered part of the group 23.^[6][7]

Group 23, including the two Emirati candidates, graduated NASA's astronaut training program on March 5, 2024, becoming eligible for assignment to future missions.^[8]

Group members

External videos
Astronaut Class of 2021 Official Announcement December 6, 2021

External videos
NASA's Astronaut Graduation 2024 March 5, 2024

The list:^[9]

• Nichole Ayers: Air Force fighter jet pilot
  • Future flight: Pilot, SpaceX Crew-10 (Expedition 73)
• Marcos Berríos: Air Force helicopter test pilot
• Christina Birch: Bioengineer, Team USA Track Cyclist
• Deniz Burnham: Drilling engineer
• Luke Delaney: NASA Langley research pilot
• Andre Douglas: Space systems engineer
• Jack Hathaway: Navy test pilot
• Anil Menon: Air Force flight surgeon (prior SpaceX medical director)
• Christopher Williams: Medical physicist
• Jessica Wittner: Navy test pilot, research engineer

Two candidate astronauts from the United Arab Emirates are training as part of the group 23:^[10][11]

• Nora Al Matrooshi: Mechanical engineer
• Mohammad Al Mulla: Helicopter pilot

See also

• 2022 European Space Agency Astronaut Group

References

1. Schierholz, Stephanie. "Explorers Wanted: NASA to Hire More Artemis Generation Astronauts". nasa.gov. National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Retrieved February 14, 2020.
2. Leinfelder, Andrea. "More than 12,000 apply to be NASA's next class of astronauts". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved April 2, 2020.
3. Pearlman, Robert. "NASA delays new astronaut selection due to coronavirus constraints". collectspace.com. collectSpace. Retrieved August 29, 2020.
4. Blodgett, Rachael. "Astronaut Selection Timeline". NASA.gov. National Aeronautics & Space Administration. Retrieved August 29, 2020.
5. Blodgett, Rachael. "Astronaut Selection Timeline". NASA.gov. National Aeronautics & Space Administration. Retrieved March 19, 2021.
6. "MBRSC announces final 14 candidates for the UAE Astronaut Programme". gulfnews.com.
7. "UAE names two new astronauts, including first woman candidate | collectSPACE". collectSPACE.com.
8. NASA (March 5, 2024). NASA's 2024 Astronaut Graduation. Retrieved August 31, 2024 – via YouTube.
9. Margetta, Robert (December 6, 2021). "NASA Selects New Astronaut Recruits to Train for Future Missions". NASA. Retrieved December 6, 2021.
10. "NASA Introduces Class of 10 New Astronaut Candidates". December 6, 2021. Retrieved December 9, 2021. Mr. Nelson also announced that two people from the United Arab Emirates, Nora Al Matrooshi and Mohammad Al Mulla, will train with the NASA astronaut candidates.
11. "NASA names 10 new astronaut candidates for future space missions". December 6, 2021. Retrieved December 9, 2021. The new astronaut candidates will be joined in their training by two United Arab Emirates (UAE) candidates, Nora AlMatrooshi, a 28-year-old mechanical engineer, and Mohammad AlMulla, a 33-year-old pilot for the Dubai Police, who were selected by the Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Center (MBRSC) in Dubai in April.