NASA To Soon Begin Recruiting Astronauts For Upcoming Space Missions

NASA will reportedly begin its search for the next generation of astronauts for the upcoming space missions, including the highly anticipated Mars mission, in December this year. The US space agency is calling out pilots, engineers, scientists and medical doctors to submit applications from December 14 through mid-February for the upcoming space missions. The name of selected candidates will be announced in mid-2017.

The selected astronauts may get the opportunity to fly in any of the four NASA space vehicles- the International Space Station (ISS), two commercial crew spacecraft and NASA's Orion deep-space exploration vehicle, reported Daily Star Albany.

NASA Administrator Charles Bolden said that the next group of American space explorers will inspire the Mars generation to reach for new heights, and help the space agency to fulfil its goal of landing on the Red Planet. He added that the selected astronauts will fly on US made spacecraft from American soil, advance critical science and research aboard the International Space Station, and help push the boundaries of technology in the proving ground of deep space.

It is to be noted that candidates applying with NASA must have a bachelor's degree from an accredited institution in engineering, biological science, physical science or mathematics. They also must have at least three years of related, progressively responsible professional experience, or at least 1,000 hours of pilot-in-command time in jet aircraft. In addition, the candidates will be also required to pass the NASA long-duration spaceflight physical. "This is an exciting time to be a part of America's human space flight program," said Brian Kelly, director of flight operations at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston.

In related news, NASA and Aerojet Rocketdyne have successfully tested a second RS-25 development engine, which will power the space agency's new Space Launch System (SLS) rocket in deep space missions, reported The TeCake. The test, which lasted for about 650 seconds, was performed at the space agency's Stennis Space Center in Mississippi.