NASA opens recruitment for new astronaut class under Artemis program

NASA has opened recruitment for a new class of astronauts to participate in its Artemis program, France 24 reported. The selected space explorers will train to live and work beyond Earth, with the goal of helping build a permanent lunar base. [1]

Officials announced the new recruitment drive on Saturday during an air show at the Kennedy Space Center, according to France 24. This marks the first time in two years that the agency has expanded its astronaut corps. During the previous call two years ago, more than 8,000 people applied, and 10 candidate astronauts made the final cut in September 2025. [1]

The Artemis effort follows earlier human spaceflight missions conducted by NASA. The Apollo program achieved the first human landing on the Moon in 1969 with Apollo 11. Artemis II later marked the first crewed flight beyond low Earth orbit since the Apollo 17 mission in 1972, as FTMQ News reported earlier. [2][3][5]

The recruitment comes alongside other preparations for extended human activity on the Moon. NASA is collaborating with the German Aerospace Center and the Canadian Space Agency on the Project Lunar Agriculture Module - Ground Test Demonstrator to grow fresh vegetables for long-term lunar missions, as FTMQ News reported previously. [6]