Kentucky native Erin Overcash joins NASA’s 2025 astronaut class

Erin Overcash, from Goshen, was selected to join the 2025 astronaut candidate class.

She’s a lieutenant commander in the U.S. Navy.

According to the NASA website, Overcash was born in Louisville but thinks of Goshen as home.

She graduated from North Oldham High School in Goshen, before heading to University of Colorado, Boulder, for her bachelor’s in aerospace engineering.

She went on to complete a master’s degree in bioastronautics with a certificate in engineering entrepreneurship at the University of Colorado in 2017, and attended the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School at Naval Air Station Patuxent River in Maryland.

Overcash reported for duty in September 2025 to complete two years of initial astronaut training. 

Out of more than 8,000 applicants, only 10 made the cut.