NASA is gearing up to announce names of candidates who will become astronauts taking part in new space missions. These missions include NASA’s return to Moon and more space missions to Mars. It is expected that NASA will make announcement on fresh batch of its candidates tonight at 11 pm (IST).
NASA said that the selected candidates will join NASA Administrator Bill Nelson, Nasa Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy, Johnson Center Director Vanessa Wyche, and Flight Operations Director Norm Knight on the stage.
Just getting included in this list would not guarantee a space travel for these men and women. The chosen candidates will have to complete a rigorous training program that will go on for two years.
“The astronaut candidates will report to Nasa Johnson in January to begin their training in spacecraft systems, spacewalking skills, teamwork, and other necessary skills,” the agency said in a statement ahead of the announcement
Will there be a face with Indian-heritage?
Astronauts who were either born in India or were of Indian heritage have often been selected in NASA’s successive batches of astronauts. These names include Kalpana Chawla, Sunita Williams and most recent Raja Chari
NASA has been tightlipped about new batch of astronaut candidates so far.