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Today in History: NASA selects nine astronauts for Moon landing

By Drooid · Sep 17, 2026, 10:35 AM UTC · How we work

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Summary

Story summary

On September 17 1962 NASA unveiled its second astronaut class—the “Next Nine”—to expand the Mercury Seven for upcoming Gemini and Apollo missions. Selected for advanced engineering expertise and test-pilot experience, they were tasked with mastering two-person rendezvous flights and three-person lunar-landing operations, laying the crew foundation for the Moon-landing goal.

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Story summary

On September 17 1962 NASA unveiled its second astronaut class—the “Next Nine”—to expand the Mercury Seven for upcoming Gemini and Apollo missions. Selected for advanced engineering expertise and test-pilot experience, they were tasked with mastering two-person rendezvous flights and three-person lunar-landing operations, laying the crew foundation for the Moon-landing goal.