NASA has just unveiled eight Americans to be the next set of astronauts - and they includes four women.

The new class of astronauts will begin training for future space missions at the Johnson Space Center in Houston. The four men and four women are a diverse mix of scientists and military pilots who will begin training for missions that may take them all the way to Mars.

The new astronauts were selected by NASA from over 6,000 applicants. There are already 47 active astronauts in Houston. The new class of 2013 may be the first crew to visit an asteroid or Mars, which are future goals of NASA.

The new group of space travelers may also be the first group to launch on a U.S. built rocket since NASA stopped space shuttle operations in 2011.

Before that, the new U.S. astronauts may use Russian rockets to serve missions on the International Space Station.