This week’s Wednesday’s Women in STEM Series features the women from NASA’s newest class of astronauts. In 2017, NASA announced the twelve candidates that were chosen to undergo a rigorous two year training to become astronauts. And of those twelve, FIVE women were selected for this honor!
But first let’s back up a bit. In 1978, NASA announced its first ever class of female astronauts. Shannon W. Lucid, Margaret Rhea Seddon, Kathryn D. Sullivan, Judith A. Resnik, Anna L. Fisher, and Sally K. Ride were the six women NASA selected as their first female astronaut candidates in January 1978. They enrolled in a training program that they completed in August 1979 paving the way for 59 total women to enter outer space as of July 2017.
Fast forward to 2017 where five new women were selected into the astronaut training program. Kayla Barron, Zena Cardman, Jasmin Moghbeli, Loral O’Hara, Jessica Watkins have impressive backgrounds in STEM among other things. NASA requires all applicants to their have their Bachelor’s degree in engineering, biological science, physical science, computer science or mathematics.
Check out the bios of these incredible women that A Mighty Girl put together. Look for them on space missions over the next few years as they complete their training!