Here are 20 Female Astronauts You Should Definitely Know

14. Anne McClain

Anne McClain has wanted to be an astronaut for a long time. “When I was five,” she said, “I wrote a children’s book about a family blasting off to space and truly have never said or wanted to do anything else.”

McClain finally realized that dream when she was accepted as part of the 2013 astronaut class. She is a major in the U.S. Army and graduated from the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, New York. She has two masters degrees, including an MS in engineering (University of Bath) and an MS in international security (University of Bristol).

If all of this somehow wasn’t impressive enough, keep in mind that McClain had graduated from the U.S. Navy Test Pilot School in June 2013, at the same time she had been accepted into astronaut training. She also became one of the youngest NASA astronauts. All told, McClain has accumulated over 2,000 hours of flight time in 20 different types of aircraft.

Considering that McClain, along with other members of the 2013 astronaut class, has only just completed her training, she hasn’t yet gone to space. Considering the paths of many other astronauts, however, chances are good that she’ll eventually get there. In fact, McClain has claimed that she would jump at the chance to go on a long-term space mission, including one to Mars.