A University of Vermont alum was selected for NASA’s latest class of astronaut candidates.
Imelda Muller, a graduate of UVM’s Larner College of Medicine, was one of 10 candidates chosen from a pool of over 8,000 applicants.
This is the first class in NASA’ s history with more women than men.
Muller, who grew up in Copake Falls, New York, earned her UVM medical degree in 2017. She is a former lieutenant in the U.S. Navy. At the time of selection, she was completing a residency in anesthesia and critical medicine at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore.
Reflecting on her work since graduating, Muller said, "medicine gives you the opportunity to mesh with all types of different entities.”
“UVM’s Larner College of Medicine has always produced physicians who make a positive and profound impact on Vermont and the wider world. It’s wonderful to think that Dr. Muller has already extended that mission to the depths of the seas, in her work for Naval Sea Systems, and now into the stars," UVM President Marlene Tromp said in a prepared statement.
“This opportunity is not only a testament to her extraordinary dedication but also a shining moment for our entire medical community,” said Richard Page, dean of Larner College.
Muller and the other astronaut candidates will now begin a two-year foundational training program, with instruction in robotics, geology, space medicine, and more. If candidates successfully complete the training and evaluations, they will join NASA’s active astronaut corps.
From her time in Vermont, Muller said she remembers seasonal sports, maple creemees, and a supportive community.
“Vermont’s a very active place, and the seasons are amazing,” she said.
Muller said she is excited to build on the foundations of her medical passions as she starts the astronaut training program. She will continue to focus on the way the human body adapts to extreme environments.
This appointment also gives Muller the opportunity to delve into a realm that has fascinated her since childhood: the night sky.
“When I was a little kiddo, I definitely spent a lot of time staring up at the stars. I grew up in a small town in upstate New York, and the nights were really really dark, and you could see what felt like almost every star in the universe,” she said.
When looking up at the stars now, she said she feels the same way, “like the limits of the universe don’t exist.”
