On December 14, NASA will begin accepting applications for its next class of astronauts. The agency, to date, has had more than 300 astronauts fly on its space missions, and there are currently 47 active astronauts in its corps. NASA took to its Tumblr account to debunk a few myths surrounding the qualifications needed to become an astronaut — one of those myths includes needing an advanced degree in order to qualify.
In a press release, NASA said, "The next class of astronauts may fly on any of four different U.S. vessels during their careers: the International Space Station, two commercial crew spacecraft currently in development by U.S. companies, and NASA’s Orion deep-space exploration vehicle."
NASA expects to announce selected candidates in mid-2017. Watch this video to see the basic requirements to become one of NASA's elite astronauts.
