{"id":17091,"date":"2025-09-23T00:04:43","date_gmt":"2025-09-22T16:04:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/nasa-showcases-its-latest-class-of-astronauts-including-a-geologist-from-the-seattle-area\/"},"modified":"2025-09-23T00:04:43","modified_gmt":"2025-09-22T16:04:43","slug":"nasa-showcases-its-latest-class-of-astronauts-including-a-geologist-from-the-seattle-area","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/nasa-showcases-its-latest-class-of-astronauts-including-a-geologist-from-the-seattle-area\/","title":{"rendered":"NASA showcases its latest class of astronauts \u2014 including a geologist from the Seattle area"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Geologist Lauren Edgar waves during NASA\u2019s introduction of new astronaut candidates. (NASA via YouTube)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

NASA has named the next 10 members of its astronaut corps, and one of those 10 is a geologist with plenty of space research experience who hails from the Pacific Northwest.<\/p>\n

Lauren Edgar \u2014 who regards Sammamish, Wash., as her hometown \u2014 is part of the first class of astronaut candidates in which the women outnumber the men. It\u2019s also the first class to include someone who has already gone into orbit on a commercial spacecraft, and who set a spaceflight record to boot.<\/p>\n

NASA\u2019s Class of 2025 was introduced today at a ceremony conducted at Johnson Space Center in Houston, with members of Congress and other VIPs in attendance.<\/p>\n

Acting NASA Administrator Sean Duffy noted that more than 8,000 people applied for this year\u2019s spots. \u201cWe picked the best and the brightest, the most skilled, the best-looking, the best personalities to take these 10 spots,\u201d he said. \u201cOne of these 10 could actually be one of the first Americans to put their boots on the Mars surface, which is very, very cool.\u201d<\/p>\n

Edgar, 40, said she was honored to be part of the class. She was born in Washington, D.C., but grew up in Sammamish and graduated from Skyline High School. After receiving her bachelor\u2019s degree from Dartmouth College and her Ph.D. in geology from Caltech, Edgar went on to work at the U.S. Geological Survey and at NASA.<\/p>\n

Her career highlights include leading USGS\u2019 TARGET training program, supporting NASA\u2019s Mars Science Laboratory and Mars Exploration Rover missions, and serving as the deputy principal investigator on the Artemis 3 Geology Team.<\/p>\n

\u201cThrough these experiences, I\u2019ve had a chance to see the amazing team that makes this all possible,\u201d she said. \u201cI just want to say I am so excited to be officially part of the NASA family, and can\u2019t wait to be serving in this role along with all of my new classmates here.\u201d<\/p>\n

Edgar also admitted to a quirk or two during today\u2019s Q&A. \u201cI love to do handstands everywhere I go,\u201d she said. \u201cI grew up doing gymnastics, and I\u2019ve always loved the outdoors, so it kind of evolved from \u2018climb a mountain, do a handstand at the top.\u2019 But it seems to have followed me everywhere around the world \u2014 on top of the mountains, on top of glaciers, the bottom of the Grand Canyon. Pretty much everywhere that I\u2019ve gone, except on this stage today.\u201d<\/p>\n

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NASA\u2019s Class of 2025 astronauts include Ben Bailey, Cameron Jones, Katherine Spies, Erin Overcash, Adam Fuhrmann, Lauren Edgar, Yuri Kubo and Imelda Muller (from left, top row), plus Anna Menon and Rebecca Lawler nestling in the A\u2019s of the NASA logo. Click on the image for a larger version. (NASA Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Edgar\u2019s classmates include:<\/p>\n

Ben Bailey<\/strong>, 38, chief warrant officer 3, U.S. Army, was born and raised in Charlottesville, Va. He\u2019s a U.S. Naval Test Pilot School graduate with more than 2,000 flight hours in more than 30 different rotary and fixed-wing aircraft.<\/p>\n

Adam Fuhrmann<\/strong>, 35, major, U.S. Air Force, is from Leesburg, Va., and has accumulated more than 2,100 flight hours in 27 aircraft, including the F-16 and F-35. He has deployed in support of military operations in Afghanistan, logging 400 combat hours.<\/p>\n

Cameron Jones<\/strong>, 35, major, U.S. Air Force, is a native of Savanna, Ill. He\u2019s a test pilot with more than 1,600 flight hours in more than 30 different aircraft, including 150 combat hours.<\/p>\n

Yuri Kubo<\/strong>, 40, is a native of Columbus, Ind. He spent 12 years working across various teams at SpaceX, including as launch director for Falcon 9 rocket launches, director of avionics for the Starshield program, and director of ground segment. At the time of his selection, Kubo was the senior vice president of engineering at Electric Hydrogen.<\/p>\n

Rebecca Lawler<\/strong>, 38, is a native of Little Elm, Texas, and a former lieutenant commander in the U.S. Navy. She is a former Navy P-3 pilot and experimental test pilot with more than 2,800 flight hours in more than 45 aircraft. Lawler also flew as a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration hurricane hunter and during NASA\u2019s Operation IceBridge. She was a test pilot for United Airlines at the time of her selection.<\/p>\n

Anna Menon<\/strong>, 39, was born in Houston and has worked in Johnson Space Center\u2019s Mission Control Center, supporting medical hardware and software aboard the International Space Station. In 2024, Menon went into orbit as a mission specialist and medical officer on the privately supported Polaris Dawn research mission. That SpaceX Dragon flight featured a new altitude record for female spacefliers (870.35 miles, or 1,400.7 kilometers) and the first commercial spacewalk. At the time of her selection, Menon was a senior engineer at SpaceX.<\/p>\n

Imelda Muller<\/strong>, 34, regards Copake Falls, N.Y., as her hometown. She formerly was a lieutenant in the U.S. Navy and served as an undersea medical officer. Her experience includes providing medical support during Navy operational diving training at NASA\u2019s Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory. At the time of her selection, Muller was completing a residency in anesthesia at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.<\/p>\n

Erin Overcash<\/strong>, 34, lieutenant commander, U.S. Navy, is from Goshen, Ky. A U.S. Naval Test Pilot School graduate, Overcash is an experienced F\/A-18E and F\/A-18F Super Hornet pilot with multiple deployments. She has logged more than 1,300 flight hours in 20 aircraft, including 249 carrier-arrested landings. Overcash was part of the Navy\u2019s World Class Athlete Program and trained full-time at the Olympic Training Center with the USA Rugby Women\u2019s National Team.<\/p>\n

Katherine Spies<\/strong>, 43, was born in San Diego. 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 Corp.<\/p>\n

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