NASA Astronaut Group 22 facts for kids
Quick facts for kids The Turtles |
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NASA Astronaut Group 22 and the two Canadian astronauts in September 2019
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| Year selected | 2017 |
| Number selected | 12 |
NASA Astronaut Group 22 (nicknamed "The Turtles") is a group of twelve NASA astronauts selected in June 2017. They were joined by two Canadian Space Agency astronauts for training.
History
NASA announced the creation of this astronaut group in November 2015 and accepted applications for astronaut hires from December 2015 through February 2016. A record number of applications - over 18,300 - were received. The final group of twelve selected candidates was publicly announced on June 7, 2017. The class was introduced at a press conference at the Johnson Space Center by U. S. Vice President Mike Pence. The ages of the seven men and six women ranged from 29 to 42 at the time of announcement.
The Group 22 Astronaut Candidates arrived at the Johnson Space Center in Houston for training in August 2017, and when their approximately two-year-long training program was complete in January 2020, they became available for future missions.
The group earned their "Turtles" nickname after experiencing flooding from Hurricane Harvey shortly after arriving at NASA. The name was chosen by the preceding astronaut group, "The 8-Balls", according to NASA traditions.
The first astronauts of this astronaut group to fly to space, Raja Chari and Kayla Barron on SpaceX Crew-3 took a turtle as zero-g indicator, to pay a tribute to their astronaut group.
Group members
- Kayla Barron (born 1987): Lt. Cmdr., U.S. Navy
- Current Flight, SpaceX Crew-3
- Zena Cardman (born 1987): Biologist
- Raja Chari (born 1977): Col., U.S. Air Force
- Current Flight, SpaceX Crew-3
- Matthew Dominick (born 1981): Cmdr., U.S. Navy
- Bob Hines (born 1975): NASA research pilot
- Current Flight, SpaceX Crew-4
- Warren Hoburg (born 1985): assistant professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics, MIT
- Future Flight, SpaceX Crew-6
- Jonny Kim (born 1984): Lt., U.S. Navy, physician, former U.S. Navy SEAL
- Robb Kulin (born 1983): Launch Chief Engineer, SpaceX – Resigned in August 2018 before completing his training.
- Jasmin Moghbeli (born 1983): LTC., U.S. Marine Corps
- Future Flight, SpaceX Crew-7
- Loral O'Hara (born 1983): research engineer, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
- Francisco Rubio (born 1975): Maj., U.S. Army physician
- Future Flight, Soyuz MS-22
- Jessica Watkins (born 1988): postdoctoral fellow, California Institute of Technology
- Current Flight, SpaceX Crew-4
Canadian Partner Astronauts
The U.S. astronauts trained alongside two Canadian astronaut candidates:
- Joshua Kutryk (born 1982): LCol, Royal Canadian Air Force, test pilot, fighter pilot, engineer
- Jenni Sidey-Gibbons (born 1988): Mechanical engineer, combustion scientist, and lecturer
See also
In Spanish: Grupo 22 de Astronautas de la NASA para niños
