Columbus native chosen for next NASA astronaut class

A native of Columbus is among NASA’s next group of astronauts in training.

40-year-old Yuri Kubo of Columbus was among 10 chosen for the latest astronaut class. The announcement was made at Johnson Space Center in Houston on Monday.

According to the NASA announcement, Kubo worked for 12 years at SpaceX, including as launch director for Falcon 9 rocket launches, director of avionics for the Starshield program, and director of Ground Segment. Most recently he has been a senior vice president at Electric Hydrogen.

Kubo earned two degrees from Purdue — a bachelor’s in electrical engineering and a master’s in electrical and computer engineering. According to the school, Purdue’s College of Engineering also named him a 2024 recipient of its 38 by 38 award.

Another Purdue graduate, 35-year-old Adam Fuhrmann, was also chosen for the 2025 class.

The astronaut candidates will undergo nearly two years of training before they graduate as flight-eligible astronauts for NASA. The agency says that training will include robotics, land and water survival, geology, foreign language, space medicine and physiology. They will also conduct simulated spacewalks and fly high-performance jets.

Photo: 2025 astronaut class photo courtesy of NASA