Ben Bailey (astronaut)

Ben Bailey
Bailey in 2025
Born	Joseph Benjamin Bailey (1987-08-07) August 7, 1987 (age 38) Charlottesville, Virginia, U.S.
Education	University of Virginia (BS) Naval Postgraduate School
Space career
NASA astronaut candidate
Rank	CW3, U.S. Army
Selection	NASA Group 24 (2025)

Ben Bailey is an American military test pilot, engineer, and NASA astronaut candidate. Born in Charlottesville, Virginia, and educated at the University of Virginia, he worked as a professional engineer before pursuing Army aviation.

After joining the United States Army as a warrant officer and qualifying as a rotary wing aviator and experimental test pilot, he was announced as a member of NASA Astronaut Group 24 in 2025, becoming the first warrant officer selected for astronaut training.

Education and early career

Bailey attended the University of Virginia, earning a Bachelor of Science degree in mechanical engineering. After graduation in 2009, he worked as a nuclear engineer on the nuclear propulsion plants for aircraft carriers. As of 2025, he was working toward a Master of Science degree in systems engineering at the Naval Postgraduate School. ^[1]

Military career

Bailey joined the U.S. Army as an aviation warrant officer and began initial entry rotary wing training at Fort Rucker to qualify as a helicopter pilot. From 2016 to 2022, Bailey was assigned to Joint Base Lewis–McChord as a UH-60M Black Hawk pilot.

In 2022, following fixed-wing transition training, he graduated from the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School, becoming an experimental test pilot responsible for evaluating new technologies in the UH-60 and Boeing CH-47 Chinook airframes. As of his astronaut selection in 2025, Bailey was a senior-rated Army aviator with more than 2,000 flight hours across 30 different airframes including both rotary and fixed-wing. ^[1]

NASA career

In September 2025, Bailey was selected as a member of NASA Astronaut Group 24, becoming the first warrant officer selected for the NASA Astronaut Corps, and the second selected for spaceflight, following CW4 Thomas J. Hennen, who flew a mission as a payload specialist in 1991. ^[2] He reported for duty at NASA's Johnson Space Center in September 2025 to begin the two year course of training.

References

1. "NASA Astronaut Candidate Ben Bailey - NASA" . Retrieved 2025-09-27.
2. "Army chief warrant officer 3 selected by NASA as 2025 astronaut candidate". www.army.mil. 2025-09-22. Retrieved 2025-12-28.