A military pilot who calls San Diego home may get the chance to serve her country on a new mission to the moon, or possibly Mars.

Katherine Spies was among 10 scientists, engineers and test pilots chosen by NASA from more than 8,000 applicants to become their next class of astronauts.

Spies was born in Mission Viejo, California, but considers her hometown to be San Diego, where her mother currently lives. Her father was a retired Marine Corps colonel before his passing in 2013, NASA said.

She was most recently director of flight test engineering for Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation and was previously an AH-1 attack helicopter pilot and Marine Corps test pilot with more than 2,000 flight hours.

After graduating from the University of Southern California with a bachelor's degree in chemi

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