Two Purdue University alumni, Adam Fuhrmann and Yuri Kubo, were accepted into NASA’s 2025 class of astronaut candidates. Their faces join the other 28 alumni on Purdue’s Cradle of Astronauts wall in the Neil Armstrong Hall of Engineering.

Fuhrmann (MS Systems Engineering ’22) served as the director of operations for an Air Force flight test unit when he was selected as an astronaut candidate. Kubo (BSEE ’08, MSECE ’15) was a senior vice president at Electric Hydrogen when selected. In 2024, Purdue honored Kubo with its 38 by 38 award.

Fuhrmann and Kubo are two of just 10 astronaut candidates chosen from more than 8,000 applicants. They will undergo nearly two years of training before they graduate as flight-eligible astronauts for NASA missions to low earth orbit, the moon and Mars.

University President Mung Chiang lauded their achievement: “Adam and Yuri will carry on the spirit of exploration rooted in the legacy of Purdue-alum NASA astronauts, including Neil Armstrong. Many more small steps and giant leaps to come!”