NASA Astronaut Candidate (ASCAN) Class 22 Embroidered Patch
NASA Astronaut Group 22 (nicknamed "The Turtles") is a group of twelve NASA astronauts selected in June 2017. They were joined by two Canadian Space Agency astronauts for training.
The members of the 2017 NASA Astronaut Class are (from top left) Matthew Dominick, Kayla Barron, Warren Hoburg, Josh Kutryk, Bob Hines, Frank Rubio, Jenni Sidey, Jasmin Moghbeli, Jessica Watkins, Raja Chari, Jonny Kim, Zena Cardman, and Loral O' Hara.
1959 Group 1 – "The Mercury Seven"
1962 Group 2 – "The New Nine"
1963 Group 3 – "The Fourteen"
1965 Group 4 – "The Scientists"
1966 Group 5 – "The Original 19"
1967 Group 6 – "The Excess Eleven (XS-11)"
1969 Group 7 – USAF MOL Transfer, no official nickname (Astronauts selected from the Manned Orbiting Laboratory program)
1978 Group 8 – "Thirty-Five New Guys (TFNG)" (class included first female candidates)
1980 Group 9 – "19+80"
1984 Group 10 – "The Maggots"
1985 Group 11 – no official nickname
1987 Group 12 – "The GAFFers"
1990 Group 13 – "The Hairballs"
1992 Group 14 – "The Hogs"
1994 Group 15 – "The Flying Escargot"
1996 Group 16 – "The Sardines" (largest class to date, 35 NASA candidates and nine international astronauts)
1998 Group 17 – "The Penguins"
2000 Group 18 – "The Bugs"
2004 Group 19 – "The Peacocks"
2009 Group 20 – "The Chumps"
2013 Group 21 – "The 8-Balls" (composed of four male and four female candidates; highest percentage of females)
2017 Group 22 – "The Turtles"
2022 Group 23 – "The Flies"