We were all a little bit sad when Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield left the International Space Station. Still, the show must go on. Hadfield may have earned himself a special place in our hearts via Twitter and YouTube, but there are a numerous other individuals just itching for their turn in space. NASA this week introduced us to the eight people that will form the United States' 21st class of NASA astronaut candidates. In other words, these are the lucky men and women that get to go to astronaut school:
Josh Cassada, Victor Glover, Tyler “Nick” Hague, Christina Hammock, Nicole Mann, Anne McClain, Jessica Meir and Andrew Morgan will all report to Johnson Space Center in Houston in August. There they will undergo two years of basic training. This team of potential new astronauts were chosen from 6,000 applicants and are NASA's first trainees in four years. NASA says they'll be prepped for flights to the ISS as well as future missions to an asteroid and even Mars.
"These new space explorers asked to join NASA because they know we’re doing big, bold things here -- developing missions to go farther into space than ever before," said NASA Administrator Charles Bolden. "They’re excited about the science we’re doing on the International Space Station and our plan to launch from U.S. soil to there on spacecraft built by American companies. And they’re ready to help lead the first human mission to an asteroid and then on to Mars."
No word on whether or not any of them have a YouTube channel or are on Twitter.
