NASA's eight new astronauts are set to begin two years of basic training after being formally introduced to NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston Tuesday, Space.com reported.

"The new astronauts we're introducing today are critical to achieving our ambitious goals," Charles Bolden, NASA Administrator and a former astronaut, said Tuesday morning at a press conference. "They will help us continue to lead the world in exploration, and they'll become role models for boys and girls, men and women, from all over the world. Their journey begins now and the nation, as it always has, will be right beside them reaching for the stars."

"The Eight Balls," as they have been nicknamed, include four men and four women chosen from an application pool of more than 6,000 in June. Josh Cassada, Victor Glover, Nick Hague, Andrew Morgan, Christina Hammock, Nicole Mann, Anne McClain and Jessica Meir were the last eight from those applicants.

"These next generation American astronauts will...have an opportunity to fly on new commercial space transportation systems that are now under development," Bolden said. "More importantly, they will be among those who plan and perhaps carry out first-ever human missions to an asteroid and on to Mars."

Earning a nickname is tradition for NASA when it introducing its newest class of astronauts. "The Chumps," class of 2009, are preparing for their mission to the International Space Station. Basic training for "the Eight Balls" is expected to take at least two years.

"The eight of them will go through a wide range of new training opportunities," Bob Behnken, chief of the Astronaut Office at Johnson Space Center, said. "Some of them will have some familiarity based on their prior military training, but the space business is new to all of them, so I think they are going to have an exciting time."

First, the astronauts will undergo flight training in Houston, while some will go to the Naval Air Station in Pensacola, Fla. After that, they will tour NASA's facilities across the nation and will also learn the technical aspects of living and working aboard the International Space Station.