NASA welcomes 13 new astronauts under Artemis Program

US' National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) on Friday, January 10, welcomed 11 astronauts to its rank with it's Canadian counterpart CSA welcomed two astronauts. The astronauts are the first ones to graduate since NASA had announced its Artemis Program. Out of the total 13 new graduates, five are female astronauts. 

Reports stated that NASA will be sending its first woman astronaut to Moon by 2024 as a part of its goal to sustainable lunar exploration. Further, NASA currently has 48 astronauts in its corps. 

 

 

 

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Forget caps and gowns. They’re getting spacesuits. 👩‍🚀 ⁣⁣ ⁣⁣ We welcomed 13 new astronauts today! The new astronauts successfully completed more than two years of required basic training and are the first to graduate under the Artemis program.⁣⁣ ⁣⁣ From left are, NASA astronaut Jonny Kim, @CanadianSpaceAgency (CSA) astronaut Joshua Kutryk, NASA astronaut Jessica Watkins (@astro_watkins), CSA astronaut Jennifer Sidey-Gibbon (@astro_jenni), NASA astronauts Kayla Barron (@astro_kayla), Jasmin Moghbeli (@astrojaws), Loral O'Hara, Zena Cardman (@zenanaut), Raja Chari, Matthew Dominick (@matthew.dominick), Bob Hines (@astro_farmerbob) and Warren Hoburg (@whoburg). ⁣⁣ ⁣ They are now eligible for assignments to the International Space Station (@ISS), Artemis missions to the Moon, and ultimately, missions to Mars.⁣⁣ ⁣⁣ Image Credit: NASA⁣⁣ ⁣⁣ #NASA #NewAstronauts #Artemis #Turtles

A post shared by NASA (@nasa) on Jan 10, 2020 at 2:28pm PST

About the new astronauts

According to an official release by NASA, the new astronauts have successfully completed over two years of basic training. It stated that they might be assigned to "missions destined for the International Space Station, the Moon, and ultimately, Mars." According to NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine, "the individuals represent the best of America." 

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US Senator John Cornyn's statement

US Senator, John Cornyn on Friday took to Twitter and congratulated the new batch of astronauts. 

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