‘Extensive travel required’: NASA begins hunt for astronauts to take trip to the moon in 2024

© NASA/AFP via Getty Images NASA’s Orion spacecraft, a critical part of the agencys Artemis I mission, which has completed three months of testing at the agency's Plum Brook Station in Sandusky, Ohio.

For the first time in four years, NASA is hiring new astronauts.

The job application opened last week for the ‘‘Artemis generation’’ of space explorers. The Artemis program’s goal is to return to the moon by 2024 — and land the first woman on it. As the job description notes, ‘‘Extensive travel required.’’

The competition is sure to be fierce. The last time NASA sought astronauts, 18,300 people applied for 14 slots. (That is an acceptance rate, as The Washington Post noted at the time, of a one-twelfth of a percent.)

This time, the requirements are a bit stricter.

You must be a US citizen and have a bachelor’s degree in science, math, or engineering. Plus, NASA is looking for a master’s degree (in physics; computer or biological sciences; engineering; or math) or at least a few years of PhD work in one of those fields; if you’re a medical doctor, that works, too; or if you’re enrolled in or a graduate of a test-pilot program.

Applicants who make it through this process enroll in a two-year evaluation program. Graduation from astronaut boot camp requires the completion of training in spacecraft systems, extravehicular activity skills, robotics skills, Russian language, aircraft flight readiness, and more, NASA says.