--- title: NASA Astronaut Program Gets Record Number of Applicants description: Over 18,000 send in their resumes to the space agency canonical: https://time.com/4230967/nasa-astronaut-record/ author: Charlotte Alter article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-02-19T19:42:46.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T15:13:56.343Z article:section: Science og:title: Record Number of Wannabe Astronauts Apply to NASA og:description: Thousands of people want to go to Mars og:url: https://time.com/4230967/nasa-astronaut-record/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd201358b9bc76d85/69887e5acf40a82a0fc420d6/gettyimages-481599987.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 5413 og:image:height: 3045 og:image:alt: Astronaut floating in orbit above the earth during spacewalk og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Record Number of Wannabe Astronauts Apply to NASA twitter:description: Thousands of people want to go to Mars twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd201358b9bc76d85/69887e5acf40a82a0fc420d6/gettyimages-481599987.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Record Number of Wannabe Astronauts Apply to NASA > Sponsored content. 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There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=457b1392-e238-4b8b-9419-4456a371e7ba&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1)  by [Charlotte Alter](https://time.com/author/charlotte-alter/)  ## Charlotte Alter Senior Correspondent Feb 19, 2016 7:42 PM UTC  Science, Space, Nasa, Astronaut floating in orbit above the earth during spacewalk.(Eye Ubiquitous--UIG via Getty Images) Science, Space, Nasa, Astronaut floating in orbit above the earth during spacewalk.(Eye Ubiquitous--UIG via Getty Images) Eye Ubiquitous—UIG via Getty Images  by [Charlotte Alter](https://time.com/author/charlotte-alter/)  ## Charlotte Alter Senior Correspondent Feb 19, 2016 7:42 PM UTC A record number of Americans have applied to be astronauts this year, according to [NASA.](http://www.nasa.gov/press-release/record-number-of-americans-apply-to-beanastronaut-at-nasa) More than 18,300 people applied to be in NASA’s 2017 astronaut class, almost three times as many as applied in 2012 for NASA’s most recent class. The previous record was 8,000 applicants, in 1978. The application was open from Dec. 14 through Thursday, and now the hard work begins: over the next 18 months, NASA will select 8-14 applicants for the opportunity to be astronaut candidates, and they’ll have two years of training before they actually get assigned to any space missions. “It’s not at all surprising to me that so many Americans from diverse backgrounds want to personally contribute to blazing the trail on our journey to Mars,” said NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden, himself a former astronaut, said in a [statement](http://www.nasa.gov/press-release/record-number-of-americans-apply-to-beanastronaut-at-nasa). “A few exceptionally talented men and women will become the astronauts chosen in this group who will once again launch to space from U.S. soil on American-made spacecraft.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4230967/nasa-astronaut-record/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4230967/nasa-astronaut-record/"},"headline":"Record Number of Wannabe Astronauts Apply to NASA","datePublished":"2016-02-19T19:42:46.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T15:13:56.343Z","description":"Over 18,000 send in their resumes to the space agency","url":"https://time.com/4230967/nasa-astronaut-record/","keywords":["Space","NASA","Mars","astronauts","Record"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd201358b9bc76d85/69887e5acf40a82a0fc420d6/gettyimages-481599987.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Charlotte Alter","jobTitle":"Senior Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/charlotte-alter/"}],"articleSection":"Science","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd201358b9bc76d85/69887e5acf40a82a0fc420d6/gettyimages-481599987.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Astronaut floating in orbit above the earth during spacewalk","caption":"Astronaut floating in orbit above the earth during spacewalk","creditText":"Eye Ubiquitous—UIG via Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/section/science/","name":"Science"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/tag/space/","name":"Space"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4230967/nasa-astronaut-record/","name":"Record Number of Wannabe Astronauts Apply to NASA"}}]}] ```