Washington (AFP)
The US space agency announced Wednesday that it has received more than 12,000 applications for its next generation of astronauts. There will probably be no more than ten places, and the selection will be announced in the summer of 2021.
"The next batch of Artemis generation astronauts will help us explore new areas of the Moon and take us to the Red Planet," said NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine. Artemis is the name of the American return to the moon program.
In 2017, at the time of the last recruitment, 12 candidates out of 18,300 had been retained, and 11 had completed the long training, which only ended in January 2020.
Applicants had to be American and have a master's degree in a scientific, technological, engineering or mathematical discipline, or be a doctor or pilot.
NASA today has 48 active astronauts.
Future recruits will be assigned to stays aboard the International Space Station, and perhaps one day to trips to the Moon, if the Artémis program materializes well. The first manned mission to the Moon is supposed to take place in 2024, with others thereafter and a more "sustainable" presence from 2028, but funding is not yet in place to ensure this tight schedule.
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