The National Aeronautics and Space Administration recently announced its 2025 cohort of 10 new astronauts. They were selected from a pool of over 8,000 applicants. For the first time in history, the new astronaut class has a majority of women.
The new astronauts now will complete nearly two years of training before becoming eligible for flight assignments supporting future science and exploration missions to low Earth orbit, the Moon, and Mars. Their curriculum includes instruction and skills development for complex operations aboard the International Space Station, Artemis missions to the Moon, and beyond. Specifically, training includes robotics, land and water survival, geology, foreign language, space medicine and physiology, and more, while also conducting simulated spacewalks and flying high-performance jets.
Lauren Edgar earned a bachelor’s degree in Earth sciences from Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire, and her master’s degree and a doctorate in geology from the California Institute of Technology. Dr. Edgar has served as the deputy principal investigator for the Artemis III Geology Team. In this role, she helped define lunar science goals, geology activities NASA astronauts will conduct, and science operations for NASA’s return to the Moon. She also spent more than 17 years supporting Mars exploration rovers.
Rebecca Lawler is a native of Little Elm, Texas, and a former lieutenant commander in the U.S. Navy. She is a former Navy experimental test pilot with more than 2,800 flight hours in more than 45 aircraft. Lawler holds a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the U.S. Naval Academy and master’s degrees from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore and the National Test Pilot School. She is also a U.S. Naval Test Pilot School graduate. Lawler also flew as a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration hurricane hunter.
Anna Menon is from Houston and earned her bachelor’s degree from Texas Christian University with a double major in mathematics and Spanish. She also holds a master’s degree in biomedical engineering from Duke University in North Carolina. Menon previously worked in the Mission Control Center at the Johnson Space Center, supporting medical hardware and software aboard the International Space Station. In 2024, Menon flew to space as a mission specialist and medical officer aboard SpaceX’s Polaris Dawn.
Imelda Muller was a lieutenant in the U.S. Navy and served as an undersea medical officer after training at the Naval Undersea Medical Institute in Groton, Connecticut. Dr. Muller earned a bachelor’s degree in behavioral neuroscience from Northeastern University and a medical degree from the University of Vermont College of Medicine. Her experience includes providing medical support during Navy operational diving training at NASA’s Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory.
Erin Overcash is a lieutenant commander in the U.S. Navy, is from Goshen, Kentucky. She holds a bachelor’s degree in aerospace engineering and a master’s degree in bioastronautics from the University of Colorado, Boulder. A U.S. Naval Test Pilot School graduate, she has logged more than 1,300 flight hours in 20 aircraft, including 249 carrier arrested landings. Overcash was part of the Navy’s World Class Athlete Program and trained full-time at the Olympic Training Center with the USA Rugby Women’s National Team.
Katherine Spies is a native of San Diego and holds a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from the University of Southern California and a master’s degree in design engineering from Harvard University. A graduate of the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School, she is a former Marine Corps AH-1 attack helicopter pilot and experimental test pilot, with more than 2,000 flight hours in more than 30 different aircraft. At the time of her selection, Spies was the director of flight test engineering at Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation.