Will Be Presented On NASA TV And Streamed On The Agency's Website

NASA's newest class of astronaut trainees will join agency Administrator Jim Bridenstine (pictured) Thursday to talk about their experiences in the training program, hopes for future missions, and more, in a live episode of Watch This Space. The one-hour program will air at 10 a.m. EDT on NASA Television and the agency's website.

Astronaut candidates Zena Cardman, Jasmin Moghbeli, Jonny Kim, Frank Rubio, Matthew Dominick, Warren Hoburg, Kayla Barron, Bob Hines, Raja Chari, Loral O' Hara and Jessica Watkins will be joined by Canadian Space Agency astronaut candidates Joshua Kutryk and Jenni Sidey-Gibbons. They will take questions from the audience at NASA Headquarters and from the public, using #AskNASA on social media.

The first U.S. astronauts, the "Original Seven," were selected in 1959. Since then, NASA has selected 21 more groups of astronauts. This latest class, announced on June 7, 2017, includes a physician, biologist, geologist, military pilots and engineers.

Once their training is complete, they may be assigned to any of a variety of missions, including: performing research on the International Space Station, launching from American soil on spacecraft built by U.S. commercial companies, and departing for deep space missions on NASA's new Orion spacecraft and Space Launch System rocket.

(Source: NASA news release. Image from file)

FMI: www.nasa.gov/2017astronauts