Three NASA Astronaut Candidates Have Maryland Ties

MARYLAND — Out of more than 12,000 applicants, NASA has chosen 10 astronaut candidates — and three of them have ties to Maryland.

Christopher Williams, a Potomac native; Andre Douglas, a Johns Hopkins graduate; and Jack Hathaway, a U.S. Naval Academy graduate, will complete two years of training before potentially having opportunity to go on space missions.

“Today we welcome 10 new explorers, 10 members of the Artemis generation, NASA’s 2021 astronaut candidate class,” said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson in a news release. “Alone, each candidate has ‘the right stuff,’ but together they represent the creed of our country: E pluribus unum – out of many, one.”

Some of the space missions after finishing training could include:

• research aboard the space station
• launching from American soil on spacecraft built by commercial companies
• deep space missions to destinations including the Moon on NASA’s Orion spacecraft and Space Launch System rocket

“Each of you has amazing backgrounds,” Pam Melroy, former NASA astronaut and NASA’s deputy administrator, told the candidates. “You bring diversity in so many forms to our astronaut corps and you stepped up to one of the highest and most exciting forms of public service.”

See Related: Naval Academy Graduate Launched Into Space For 6-Month NASA Mission

Meet The MD Candidates

Christopher Williams

Age: 38
Hometown: Potomac, Maryland
Family: Williams is married to Aubrey Samost-Williams and they have a daughter. Williams’ parents are Roger Williams and Ginger Macomber, of Potomac.
Education: Graduated from Montgomery Blair High School in Silver Spring, MD. He got his bachelor’s degree in physics from Stanford University in 2005, a Ph.D. in physics from MIT in 2012, and trained at the Harvard Medical Physics Residency Program.
Occupation: Williams was an assistant professor at the Harvard Medical School when he was selected as a NASA candidate. He worked as a medical physicist in the Radiation Oncology Department at the Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.

Andre Douglas

Age: 35
Hometown: Miami, Florida
Family: Married to Rachel Stapleton and has one son. Douglas’ mother lives in Pittsburgh and his father lives in Tampa.
Education: Douglas graduated from Western Branch High School in Chesapeake, Va., got his Bachelor of science in mechanical engineering at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy, his Master of science in mechanical engineering at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor in 2012, his Master of science in naval architecture and marine engineering at the University of Michigan also in 2012. Douglas got his Master of science in electrical and computer engineering at Johns Hopkins University in 2019 and his Ph.D. in systems engineering at George Washington University in 2021.
Former NASA experience: While Douglas was an engineer at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Lab, he “supported the fault management team during the development of the DART planetary defense mission for NASA.”

Jack Hathaway

Age: 39
Hometown: South Windsor, Connecticut
Family: Hathaway and his wife, Amy, have two children. His two parents, Donna and Jeff, live in South Windsor.
Education: Hathaway graduated from South Windsor High School in 2000, earned his bachelor’s in physics and history from the U.S. Naval Academy in 2004, got a master’s of science in flight dynamics from Cranfield University in 2014 and a master’s in national security and strategic studies from the U.S. Naval War College. He graduated from Empire Test Pilot’s School in 2011, as part of Fixed Wing Class 70.
Occupation: At the time of his selection to NASA, Hathaway was at sea aboard the USS Truman, serving as the VFA-81’s Prospective Executive Officer.