Once upon a time, I attended a really small, all-girls high school. I was one of only 60 in my graduating class. Since we were such a small institution, our school made it a point to personalize our graduation ceremony as much as possible — as each graduate approached the stage to receive her diploma, the principal would announce the colleges she had been accepted to, the college she ultimately chose, her planned major, and her ultimate career goal. My plans, which ultimately came to fruition, were to major in English and pursue a career in journalism. Many of my classmates also fulfilled their goals of becoming teachers, nurses, law enforcement officers, businesswomen, and there was even a mortician in the bunch.
One of my friends, quite literally, decided to shoot for the stars. As she stepped up to collect her diploma, the principal announced that she would be attending the United States Air Force Academy with the intention of becoming a pilot … and, eventually, an astronaut. I still remember the delighted gasps and the round of applause she received from the audience.
Thanks to the magic of social media I’m still in touch with her — she’s earned the rank of Captain, she’s currently working as a professor while pursuing her PhD, and her Facebook feed includes a photo of her Astronaut Candidate Application.
Perhaps the time has come to my friend to get her wish. NASA announced today that it will soon begin accepting applications for the next class of astronaut candidates. The Space Shuttle Program may be gone, but there are still plenty of opportunities for space flight available: new astronauts from the U.S. may fly on the International Space Station, two commercial crew spacecraft currently in development by U.S. companies, and NASA’s Orion deep-space exploration vehicle. And, of course, NASA is working toward the eventual goal of sending humans to Mars.
These future station crew members will build on the regular six-month missions and this year’s one-year mission, currently underway aboard the station, which is striving for research breakthroughs not possible on Earth that will enable long-duration human and robotic exploration into deep space.
NASA will accept applications from Dec. 14 through mid-February and expects to announce candidates selected in mid-2017. U.S. citizens with a diverse range of experience and backgrounds — pilots, engineers, scientists, medical doctors and more — are being sought. If you want to throw your hat (or helmet, I guess?) into the ring, applications for consideration as a NASA Astronaut will be accepted at http://www.usajobs.gov.
