An experienced Army test pilot with more than 2,000 flight hours is one of 10 people selected to be an astronaut candidate in NASA’s 2025 astronaut class, NASA announced.

Chief Warrant Officer 3 Ben Bailey is the sole Army candidate in the 2025 class. Bailey was selected by NASA to join the 2025 Astronaut Candidate Class while serving as an experimental test pilot specializing in developmental testing of emerging technologies for UH-60 Black Hawk and CH-47 Chinook helicopters. He has a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Virginia and is pursuing a master’s degree in systems engineering from the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California, according to his bio from NASA.

“I’m honored to welcome the next generation of American explorers to our agency,” acting NASA Administrator Sean Duffy said during a ceremony introducing the class. “The 10 men and women sitting here today embody the truth that in America, regardless of where you start, there is no limit to what a determined dreamer can achieve—even going to space.”

NASA evaluated over 8,000 applications to select its 2025 astronaut class, according to a NASA news release.

Before joining the Army, Bailey was a nuclear engineer who constructed aircraft carrier propulsion plants. In the Army, Bailey served as a UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter pilot from 2016 to 2022 at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington. During that time, he deployed in support of overseas operations, according to his NASA biography. He graduated from the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Maryland, in 2022. An instructor pilot, he has over 2,000 flight hours across more than 30 different rotary- and fixed-wing aircraft.

In addition to Bailey, several other candidates in the 2025 class have military experience. Candidate Katherine Spies is a Marine Corps veteran, Lt. Cmdr. Erin Overcash serves in the Navy, and Rebecca Lawler and Imelda Muller are Navy veterans. Majs. Adam Fuhrmann and Cameron Jones serve in the Air Force.

The 10 candidates will undergo two years of training before they are eligible for missions to low-Earth orbit, the moon and eventually to Mars, according to a NASA astronaut selection program webpage.

NASA hopes the latest astronaut class will further its goals of innovation and exploration, said Vanessa Wyche, director of NASA’s Johnson Space Center.

“Today, our mission propels us even further as we prepare for our next giant leap with NASA’s newest astronaut candidate class,” she said. “Representing America’s best and brightest, this astronaut candidate class will usher in the golden age of innovation and exploration as we push toward the moon and Mars.”