More People Have Applied To Be A NASA Astronaut Than Ever
Nearly 20,000 people have applied to be considered for NASA astronaut training. Image Source: Wikipedia
People really want to get out of this world, it seems. In less than a three-month span, more than 18,300 people have submitted applications for a little over a dozen spots for “NASA’s next astronaut class,” Discovery News reported.
Before now, the highest number of applicants stood at 8,000 — back in 1978. The flood of entries might surprise some, but to NASA administrator Charles Bolden, it makes perfect sense. “It’s not at all surprising to me that so many Americans from diverse backgrounds want to personally contribute to blazing the trail on our journey to Mars,” Bolden said. “A few exceptionally talented men and women will become the astronauts chosen in this group who will once again launch to space from U.S. soil on American-made spacecraft.”
Over the next several months, NASA will comb through the thousands of entries and select 8 to 14 astronaut candidates to enter training, Discovery reported. After that, the astronauts will be assigned to the International Space Station, NASA’s Orion spacecraft, the Boeing CST-100 Starliner or the SpaceX Crew Dragon.
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