ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) - A Naval Academy aide has been selected as an astronaut candidate from NASA’s largest-ever applicant pool.
News outlets report 29-year-old Lt. Kayla Barron was selected as one of 12 members of the space agency’s newest class, announced Wednesday. Barron holds a systems engineering degree from the academy and earned a master’s degree in nuclear engineering on a Gates Foundation scholarship at the University of Cambridge. She was part of the first class of women to be commissioned as a submarine warfare officer and has served as the flag aide to academy Superintendent Vice Admiral Ted Carter since 2015.
Carter called Barron one of the most talented officers he’d worked with.
Barron will begin the two-year training in August. Fifty-three NASA astronauts, including five women, have attended the Naval Academy.
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