NASA has handed off space station shipments to private business so it can focus on getting astronauts beyond low-Earth orbit, namely to Mars.
Advertisement
Well it seems like occupation has had a resurgence, with NASA receiving a record number of CVs for roles like Tim Peake’s. The last time NASA had an opening was in 2012. According to a new report published by NASA yesterday, applications to join the agency’s 2017 astronaut class have been the highest on record by a considerable margin.
Among the various assignments the chosen few could be assigned to could include the Orion program that would include a journey to Mars, the International Space Station and the two American-made commercial spacecraft now in development – Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner or the SpaceX Crew Dragon. On Friday, Feb. 19, 2016, NASA announced it received a record number of applicants _ some 18,300 _ for its next astronaut class. That¿s more than double the previous record of 8,000 for the first space shuttle astronaut class in 1978.
“We have our work cut out for us with this many applications”, a NASA director of flight operations says.
A lot of people want to be NASA astronauts, apparently. They will be the first American astronauts to fly into space on American owned spaceships from Florida’s Space Center since the shuttle was scrapped in 2011.
NASA is looking for astronaut candidates from all walks of life to help them complete a manned mission to Mars, Bolden said.
This new recruitment period followed shortly after the previous batch of astronauts had finished training, preparing them to become helpful in advancing the scientific studies taking place aboard the International Space Station (ISS).
Kelly, who’s less than two weeks from wrapping up an unprecedented yearlong mission for NASA, thanked everyone who worked on the Cygnus – “this great vehicle”. “I look forward to meeting the men and women talented enough to rise to the top of what is always a pool of incredible applicants”.
Advertisement
Candidates will have to to pass the space physical, which restricts would-be astronauts to men and women no taller than 6-feet 4-inches.
