NASA announced 12 new astronauts for its 2017 class on Wednesday, June 7. NASA

The 2017 NASA Astronaut Class: (from left) Zena Cardman, Jasmin Moghbeli, Jonny Kim, Frank Rubio, Matthew Dominick, Warren Hoburg, Robb Kulin, Kayla Barron, Bob Hines, Raji Chari, Loral O'Hara and Jessica Watkins.(Photo: NASA/Robert Markowitz)

Talk about the right stuff.

NASA on Wednesday named a dozen new astronauts seven men and five women selected from a record pool of more than 18,000applicants, more than double the previous high of 8,000.

You are the 12 who made it through, you have joined the elites, you are the best of us, Vice President Mike Pence said during a ceremony at Johnson Space Center in Houston."You carry on your shoulders the hopes and dreams of the American people."

The diverse Class of 2017, ranging in age from 29 to 42, includes six military officers, two of them doctors. It includesa biologist involved in Antarctic expeditions, a geologist who has worked with NASAs Mars Curiosity rover, and a SpaceX engineer who might ride a capsule he helped design.

We do things because they are hard, and then we crush it, said U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Raja Chari, a 39-year-old test pilot from Iowa, when asked how he felt about the chance to fly a spaceship.

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Families and VIP guests cheered as the astronaut candidates, as they will be called until completing a two-year training program, walked onto a stage wearing NASA-issued blue flight suits.

Chari was joined by Kayla Barron, 29; Zena Cardman, 29;Matthew Dominick, 35; Bob Hines, 42; Warren "Woody" Hoburg, 31;Dr. Jonny Kim, 33; Robb Kulin, 33; Jasmin Moghbeli, 33; Loral OHara, 34; Dr. Frank Rubio, 41; and Jessica Watkins, 29.

The future astronauts might perform science research aboard the International Space Station, flying to the orbiting laboratory in Boeing Starliner or SpaceX Dragon capsules launching from Cape Canaveral, or possibly in Russian Soyuz spacecraft.

They could be assigned to the first exploration missions beyond low Earth orbit since the last Apollo moon shot in 1972.

NASA in the early 2020s hopes to start launching crews from Kennedy Space Center in Orion capsules lifted by the Saturn V-class Space Launch System rocket. Astronauts will work in the area around the moon as a proving ground for eventual Mars missions.

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That would be a dream come true for Moghbeli, who in sixth grade wrote a book report about the first woman in space, Soviet cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova in 1963.

Moghbeli, from Baldwin, New York,said her experience as a Marine Corps major and helicopter test pilot had taught her to work outside her comfort zone, "pushed me to the point of failure, and taught me to get back up and to keep trying and to keep pressing."

Houston native O'Hara's second grade class grew tomatoesfrom seeds that flew on the space shuttle.

"Those early experiences really hooked me and are a big part of what ignited the dream to be an astronaut," she said. "Alot of our class shares that curiosity and excitement for exploring the world and going farther than anyone has gone before."

The 2017 astronaut class is NASAs 22nd, nearly 60 years after the 1959 introduction of the Mercury Seven amid a space race with the Soviet Union.

To apply, applicants had to be a U.S. citizen, have a degree in a science, technology, engineering or mathfield and at least three years of related experience, or at least 1,000 hours piloting jet aircraft.

Starting last year, selection teams winnowed the field of18,353 applicants to 120 and then 50 finalists.

Last month Dominick, aNaval aviator sailing in the western Pacific Ocean aboard the USS Ronald Reagan struggled to get a call through to NASA, but finally learned he'd been offered the job.

"It was awesome," he said. "I couldnt even get yes out. I had goosebumps."

The new crop of astronauts are joining NASA as it continues a bumpy transition following the shuttle programs retirement in 2011.

Six years later, the United States still needs Russia to get people to and from orbit. That reliance is expected to end next year when commercial crew systems being designed by Boeing and SpaceX start flying.

The first test flight of the SLS and Orion, without a crew, has slipped from 2017 to 2019.

The Trump administration had hoped for an exciting exploration mission during the current four-yearterm, but has not yet signaled any major shiftsin strategy or nominated a new leader for NASA.

Pence on Wednesday confirmed he would lead a revived National Space Council, which will attempt to better coordinate NASA, military and commercial space programs.

The U.S. will usher in a new era of space exploration that will benefit every facet of our national life, said Pence.

The new astronauts-in-training will report to Houston to begin studying space station systems, learning Russian and flying T-38 jets.

Kulin, a former commercial fisherman in Alaska who now leads SpaceX's Launch Chief Engineering Group in California,could one day earn a flight assignment to the ISS on the company's Dragon spacecraft.

"Hopefully one day Ill actually fly on a vehicle that has components I designed," he said. "Its been an incredible ride all around."

Contact Dean at 321-242-3668 or jdean@floridatoday.com. And follow on Twitter at @flatoday_jdean and on Facebook at facebook.com/jamesdeanspace.

SpaceX successfully launched its Falcon 9 rocket on a mission to the International Space Station and landed the first stage at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station shortly after on Saturday, June 3, 2017.

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SpaceX's Falcon 9 launch included a 13,500-pound satellite that's close to the size of a double-decker bus. USA TODAY

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SpaceX launched a classified National Reconnaissance Office payload from Kennedy Space Center Monday morning and successfully landed the first stage of its Falcon 9 rocket.

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An Atlas V rocket blasts off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on Tuesday, April 18, 2017 with a Cygnus spacecraft for the International Space Station.

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In a historic first for the company and the industry, SpaceX launched and landed a "flight proven," or refurbished, Falcon 9 rocket from Kennedy Space Center.

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A Delta IV rocket carrying the military's WGS-9 satellite blasted off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on Saturday, March 18, 2017.

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SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket blasts off from Kennedy Space Center with the EchoStar 23 communications satellite on Thursday, March 16, 2017.

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A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket successfully blasted off from Kennedy Space Center's historic pad 39A on Sunday, Feb. 19, 2017. The first stage returned for a successful landing in Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.

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An Atlas V rocket blasts off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station with the SBIRS missile detection satellite on Friday, Jan. 20, 2017.

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SpaceX launches Falcon 9 from KSC, lands at Cape

SpaceX launches satellite size of a double-decker bus

SpaceX launches Falcon 9 from KSC, nails landing

Atlas V rocket blasts off on mission with Cygnus spacecraft

SpaceX launches, lands 'flight proven' Falcon 9

Delta IV rocket launches from Cape Canaveral

SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launches from Kennedy Space Center

Falcon 9 blasts off from KSC, lands at Cape

Atlas V rocket blasts off with missile detection satellite

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