Lauren Edgar has spent almost 20 years at NASA finding out the moon and Mars, guiding rover missions and serving to design lunar science for the Artemis program. Now, she’s buying and selling her position behind the console for a shot at flying to area herself.
Edgar is without doubt one of the 10 individuals in NASA’s 2025 astronaut class, which was introduced this week at Johnson Area Middle (JSC) in Houston. The brand new candidates are a various group of pilots, engineers, medical doctors and scientists chosen to presumably launch on future missions to the moon and Mars. For Edgar, discovering out she’d been chosen was an enormous shock.
“I used to be so excited. You understand, completely shocked,” she advised Area.com in an interview the day of the announcement (Sept. 22). The primary one she advised about her large information? Her canine Coco. “I used to be strolling round on the telephone as a result of I could not sit nonetheless as I am having this dialog, and so she was chasing me by means of the home,” Edgar mentioned.”She knew that one thing was up.”
After Coco, Edgar instantly referred to as her husband and household to have fun.
She mentioned that rising up within the Pacific Northwest gave her a love for the outside and an appreciation for the area’s wealthy aviation historical past — influences that guided her towards her pursuits in geology and exploration. Edgar’s fascination with area got here from seeing a area shuttle launch within the second grade.
“I spotted there have been individuals onboard, they usually have been leaving the planet, and it made me surprise, ‘What else is on the market?'” Edgar mentioned.
Her niece, who’s in second grade, watched NASA’s announcement on-line. Edgar pointed to the symmetry between the delivery of her love for area and her niece’s present age, and inspired anybody who desires to change into an astronaut to pursue that dream with every little thing they’ve.
“Do not quit,” Edgar mentioned. “Nothing is unattainable, and it takes lots of people from quite a lot of totally different backgrounds to contribute to what we’re doing right here in human exploration.”
Edgar’s path to changing into an astronaut candidate — or ASCAN, as they’re affectionately referred to at NASA— was a rocky one, fairly actually. Earlier than her ASCAN choice, Edgar was working as deputy principal investigator on the Artemis 3 geology workforce, serving to design the science objectives for NASA’s upcoming crewed mission to the lunar floor.
The 17 years previous her work on Artemis have been targeted on supporting the Mars Curiosity rover and Mars Exploration Rover missions. She was additionally accountable for facilitating geology coaching for NASA engineers, mission groups and astronauts.
Whereas her position within the mission has modified, Edgar does not see it as a paradigm shift. “I feel I am working in the direction of the identical objectives that we had on these rover missions and on the Artemis 3 science workforce. I simply get to serve in a barely totally different position now, however the finish aim is similar.”
“Beforehand, I used to be working in a task the place we have been asking the astronauts … to conduct sure science duties, or deploy an instrument, or make these observations. And immediately I must assume by means of, like, ‘Oh, wow, I would get to be that individual doing a few of these actions,’ and also you understand the excessive cognitive load that it takes to be working in these difficult and distant environments whereas specializing in the mission targets,” Edgar mentioned. “I am excited to tackle that new problem.”
A type of challenges might very effectively be a mission to the moon. NASA is focusing on touchdown websites close to the lunar south pole for its Artemis missions, which the company hopes to evolve right into a sustainable and steady presence on the moon.
Edgar views the lunar south pole as a crucial vacation spot for advancing planetary science and for enabling humanity’s push deeper into area. “That might be a extremely vital place to go, from each a science perspective and likewise having a sustained presence and utilizing that as a launching space to check quite a lot of issues that we’ll want for longer period missions to Mars,” she mentioned.
NASA sees Artemis missions to the lunar floor as stepping stones, the place applied sciences and methods for long-term expeditions could be perfected on an eventual path to Mars. Edgar mentioned that is one thing she’s dreamed of.
Edgar mentioned that she and plenty of others on her rover groups usually needed to do their greatest to place themselves within the rovers’ footwear and picture themselves on the Martian floor, consistently considering, “How would I join this panorama in my thoughts?” And he or she’s enthusiastic about going to Mars herself; Edgar mentioned she “would welcome the chance if it ever got here.”
NASA’s 2025 ASCANs will spend the subsequent two years in intensive coaching at JSC and different NASA facilities as they put together to graduate to flight-ready astronauts. That coaching will cowl a variety of expertise, together with studying to fly numerous spacecraft, conducting spacewalk simulations, overseas language programs, science classes and extra.
Just like the group’s numerous backgrounds, NASA emphasizes numerous cross-familiarization to make sure that all astronauts have the abilities they should assist each other in distant, doubtlessly high-stress environments. “In the event you’re the one individuals on the market on a mission collectively, you want to have the ability to maintain one another and maintain the mission targets,” Edgar mentioned.
She mentioned she’s particularly wanting ahead to the group’s geology coaching, and famous they are going to be educated in a number of totally different subspecialities.
“I feel the composition of our class displays the wants of this system,” Edgar mentioned. “We’ll want superb pilots to fly to a few of these actually difficult environments. We’ll want individuals with medical backgrounds to maintain us secure whereas we’re on longer period missions. We’ll want engineers. We’ll want scientists. And I feel you are seeing that within the full class composition. It is actually enjoyable to study from one another, and I can not wait to see every little thing that comes forward.”
