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Here are NASA's new female astronauts.

Cleared for takeoff!

NASA just hired 12 new astronauts, five of whom are women. This is seriously a huge deal for all women, and especially women in STEM. These new female astronauts have incredible talents, stories and qualifications. And amazingly, they’re all under the age of 35.

Here is what you need to know each of these amazing #WomenThatDo and what they’ll be doing for NASA.

1 Kayla Barron

female astronauts Barron ENTITY

photo via NASA.gov

From Richland, W.A., Barron will begin training as an astronaut candidate. When she finishes the training in two years, she will take on technical duties in the Astronaut Office until she gets her flight assignment.

Barron is a lieutenant in the U.S. Navy and is only 29 years old. She has a B.S. in systems engineering from the U.S. Naval Academy and a M.S. in nuclear engineering from the University of Cambridge. Barron is also a submarine warfare officer. She’s only 29.

2 Zena Cardman

female astronauts Cardman ENTITY

photo via NASA.gov

Cardman is from Williamsburg, V.A., and has several years’ experience in analog missions, including the Pavilion Lake Research Project (2008-2015) and BASALT (2016-2017). She will begin training as an astronaut candidate for two years and will take on technical duties in the Astronaut Office until she gets her flight assignment.

Cardman was an undergrad researcher and master’s student in marine sciences at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, while simultaneously working with the Palmer Long-Term Ecological Research group in Antarctica and the Pavilion Lake Research Project in British Columbia. Cardman is also a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow at Penn State University. Cardman is also 29 years old.

3 Jasmin Moghbeli

female astronauts Moghbeli ENTITY

photo via NASA.gov

From Baldwin, N.Y., but born in Bad Nauheim, Germany, Moghbeli will also be training as an astronaut candidate for two years then take on technical duties in the Astronaut Office until her flight assignment.

The 33-year-old earned her B.S. in aerospace engineering with information technology at MIT and her M.S. in aerospace engineering from the Naval Postgraduate School. She is a major in the U.S. Marine Corps, has over 1,600 hours of flight time accumulated and has been in 150 combat missions.

Moghbeli also tested H-1 helicopters and served as the quality assurance and avionics officer for Marine Operational Test and Evaluation Squadron 1 of the U.S. Marine Corps in Yuma, Arizona, when she was chosen for NASA.

4 Jessica Watkins

female astronauts Watkins ENTITY

photo via NASA.gov

The 29-year-old from Lafayette, C.O., has already worked extensively with NASA for years. She had undergrad and grad internships with NASA, one being with the Ames Research Center, conducting research and supporting the Phoenix Mars Lander mission and prototype Mars drill testing.

She was also chief geologist for NASA Spaceward Bound Crew 86 and worked at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, analyzing near-earth asteroids, tactical and strategic planning for the Curiosity mission in 2013 and system design testing for the upcoming Mars 2020 and Mars Sample Return missions.

She was also a science operations team member for a Desert Research and Technology Studies analog mission and participated in the NASA Planetary Science Summer School. 

And that’s only her background at NASA!

Watkins was a Postdoctoral Fellow at Caltech. She also got her Ph.D. studying the emplacement mechanisms of large landslides on Mars and Earth. She was a teaching assistant in earth and planetary science at UCLA and also collaborated on the Mars Science Laboratory rover, Curiosity, planned rover activities and investigated the geologic history of the Gale crater on Mars.

5 Loral O’Hara

female astronauts O'Hara ENTITY

photo via NASA.gov

O’Hara is a research engineer for Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and is from Sugar Land, T.X. At age 34, she is the oldest female addition to the 2017 team. Taking into account all of her accomplishments thus far, 34 isn’t old at all!

She worked with NASA as a student, participating in the KC-135 Reduced Gravity Student Flight Opportunities Program, the NASA Academy at the agency’s Goddard Space Flight Center and the internship program at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. 

She got her BS in aerospace engineering from the University of Kansas and her MS in aeronautics and astronautics from Purdue University. She worked as an engineer, sea-going mechanical technician, data processor, design engineer for Stone Aerospace and project engineer for Rocketplane Limited.

Talk about out-of-this-world achievements! These women have accomplished so much at such young ages, breaking through barriers and following their passions.

Each of these women make ENTITY proud, empowering and motivating others with their displays of bravery, strength, intelligence and tenacity.

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