NASA Opens Astronaut Applications for Artemis Moon Missions

By Tom Whitfield

More than 8,000 people applied for NASA’s last astronaut class, which selected 10; NASA’s active astronaut corps currently includes 32 astronauts.

NASA is accepting applications through Dec. 3 for an astronaut role with a $164,395 starting salary. The small selection, strict qualifications and two-year training make this a specialist career path, not a broad entry-level hiring program.

NASA’s announcement supplies no salary range, benefits, signing payment or work-location details. The posted figure is therefore one compensation data point rather than a complete employment package.

What will selected astronauts do?

NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said in Saturday’s statement that selected astronauts would test spacecraft and live and work on the Moon at a future lunar base. He said: “Those missions will demand technical excellence, sound judgment, teamwork, and courage.”

He added that NASA’s astronaut corps has historically called on remarkable Americans willing to take on extraordinary challenges in service to the nation. Training will prepare astronauts for critical, difficult missions, including a landing near the Moon’s South Pole.

For candidates, the role joins spacecraft testing with teamwork and judgment in extreme conditions.

Who can apply?

Any U.S. citizen may apply, and NASA has no official age restriction. The standard education threshold is a master’s degree in a STEM field—science, technology, engineering and mathematics—such as engineering or math. Applicants also need at least three years of related professional experience after completing the degree.

A recent policy change brought nursing into the educational definition. NASA spokesperson Anna Schneider told NPR on Sunday that master’s-level nursing degrees now meet the minimum requirement, whereas nursing degrees were previously excluded. Candidates using that route still must satisfy the experience rule unless they qualify for an alternative.

NASA will consider certain applicants in lieu of both a master’s degree and work experience. Those routes include enrollment in a PhD, or doctoral, program in a STEM field; being a doctor; or being a pilot with extensive flight experience.

These minimum qualifications establish eligibility rather than selection. A qualifying degree and three years of experience do not establish how an individual would perform in NASA’s stated areas of technical excellence, judgment, teamwork and courage.

The formal screen is demanding, but NASA now offers several qualifying routes into the astronaut corps.

How competitive is the process?

NASA describes the applicant process as extremely competitive. The agency reported more than 8,000 applicants for its last class and selected 10. Because “more than 8,000” is a floor rather than an exact total, NASA has not published a precise acceptance rate.

Since NASA missions began in the 1960s, the agency has selected 370 people to train as astronauts. Its active corps now numbers 32. The announcement does not state how many astronauts it will select in this round, so applicants have a deadline but no published headcount.

For job seekers, clearing the qualifications is only the entry threshold in a process NASA calls extremely competitive.

What happens after selection?

Selected astronauts will undergo two years of training. NASA is relying on private companies, including Blue Origin and SpaceX, to develop systems and spacecraft as it works toward returning humans to the Moon in 2028, the first such return since 1972.

The announcement identifies those companies as private-company developers, not alternative employers of NASA’s astronaut corps. For applicants, the distinction matters: the opening is with NASA, while systems development sits with outside firms.

At a Nov. 7 press conference on Artemis III mission progress, Isaacman said he was “very confident” the mission would launch in 2027. The selection process therefore precedes an active development phase rather than a finished lunar program, with training tied to missions intended to land near the South Pole.

With applications due Dec. 3, two years of training ahead and Artemis III targeted for 2027, NASA’s next selection will show whether its expanded qualifications can supply the specialist workforce needed for a 2028 return.