On Monday of September 24, 2025, NASA announced and welcomed the 10 people selected from an 8,000-applicant pool. These 10 are set to join the agency as it channels its return to the moon en route to a first-time appearance on Mars.

NASA Administrator Sean Duffy described the six women and four men selected for the mission to Mars as America’s “best and brightest.” 

The newly introduced “den of 10” has very inspiring backgrounds. There’s no doubt that all of these individuals are up for the part. Ben Bailey, a mechanical engineer and chief warrant officer #3 for the Army, from Charlottesville, Virginia; Lauren Edgar, a geologist from Sammamish, Washington; Adam Fuhrmann, from Leesburg, Virginia, and Cameron Jones from Savanna, Illinois, both aerospace engineers and Air Force majors; Yuri Kubo, hailing from Columbus, Indiana, is an electrical and computer engineer, a former NASA worker, and SpaceX launch director; Rebecca Lawler, a former lieutenant commander and test pilot in the Navy, from Little Elm, Texas; Imelda Muller, also a former Navy lieutenant, and also an undersea medical officer from Copake Falls, New York; Erin Overcash, a lieutenant commander and test pilot in the Navy from Goshen, Kentucky; Katherine Spies, a former Marine Corps test pilot and design engineer from San Diego, California; and finally, Anna Menon, originating from Houston, she is a biomedical engineer and former SpaceX employee.

This astronaut class actually marks the first time in NASA history where women hold more positions than men. Administrator Duffy states, “We are going back to the moon. …And I’ll tell you this, I’ll be damned if the Chinese beat NASA or beat America back to the moon.” Hearing this news comes from the man who runs the organization and even this entire operation gives people hope–hope that had yet to be brought in our time, until now. What folks thought was impossible is slowly but surely becoming very much possible and Sean Duffy sounds sure of it.