NASA is Officially Recruiting Astronauts to Go to Mars

Attention all space lovers: NASA is officially putting a team together to set foot on the Martian frontier.

Charles Bolden, a NASA Administrator and former astronaut, said in a statement:

“This next group of American space explorers will inspire the Mars generation to reach for new heights, and help us realize the goal of putting boot prints on the Red Planet.”

Eligible candidates must have a bachelor’s degree in engineering, biological or physical science, or mathematics from an accredited university and three years of professional experience or 1,000 hours of pilot time. Applicants will also need to pass the extensive space physical exam and be under 6 feet 4 inches tall.

Bolden said:

“Those selected for this service will fly on U.S. 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.”

Those interested in becoming an astronaut for the Mars mission can apply at www.usajobs.gov. Applications will be accepted from Dec. 14 through mid-February. Selected candidates will be announced sometime in the early half of 2017.

The future class of astronauts will be launched from the Space Coast of Florida aboard any of four different U.S. vessels including the International Space Station, two commercial crew spacecraft that are under development by U.S. companies, and NASA’s Orion deep-space exploration spacecraft.

Over 300 astronauts have flown with NASA on their space exploration missions. There are currently 47 astronauts in the active astronaut corps, and NASA is now actively looking for the future class of space explorers.

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