NASA just picked its newest astronauts—only 0.1% made the cut, with salaries topping $150K and a shot at landing on Mars

NASA Administrator Sean Duffy, right, makes comments as the Astronaut candidate class of 2025 is introduced during a ceremony at the NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston, Monday, Sept. 22, 2025. (Credit: Kirk Sides/Houston Chronicle via Getty Images)

Forget Ivy League admissions—NASA’s astronaut program has set a sky-high bar for admission standards, and 2025 was no exception.

On Monday, the space agency announced the 10 people chosen for its 2025 astronaut candidate class, selected from over 8,000 applicants across the U.S. That’s an acceptance rate of about 0.125%, making the odds far more daunting than Harvard’s 4% admission rate.