Newest Astronauts to Graduate Friday

The newest class of astronauts, consisting of 11 NASA candidates and two Canadian Space Agency (CSA) candidates, are set to graduate later this week at 9:30 a.m. CT Friday, Jan. 10. Each astronaut class has the potential to be composed of international partners and often features astronaut candidates from different partnering countries, Canada being one of the countries. 

Kayla Barron, Zena Cardman, Raja Chari, Matthew Dominick, Bob Hines, Warren Hoburg, Johnny Kim, Jasmin Moghbeli, Loral O'Hara, Frank Rubio and Jessica Watkins are the NASA graduates, while Joshua Kutryk and Jennifer Sidey-Gibbons will be representing CSA for the historic graduation of the first class to graduate under the new Artemis program. 

(Top row) Matthew Dominick of NASA, Kayla Barron of NASA, Warren Hoburg of NASA, and Joshua Kutryk of CSA, (middle row) Bob Hines of NASA, Frank Rubio of NASA, Jennifer Sidey-Gibbons of CSA, Jasmin Moghbeli of NASA, and Jessica Watkins of NASA, (bottom row) Raja Chari of NASA, Jonny Kim of NASA, Zena Cardman of NASA, and Loral O’Hara of NASA. Credit: NASA

These astronauts completed two years of intense training preparing them for possible ISS, moon, and even Mars missions. During their training, each astronaut was required to demonstrate competency in ISS systems, spacewalks, T-38 Jet proficiency, and the Russian language.

Check out the individual biographies of the graduating2017 astronaut class.

The graduation will take place on center, but will not be available for live viewing. We encourage employees to view online, or even form viewing celebrations on campus, by tuning into NASA TV at 9:30 a.m.