{"id":19578,"date":"2015-11-05T01:35:43","date_gmt":"2015-11-04T17:35:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/want-to-be-an-astronaut-heres-your-chance-nasa-says-its-recruiting\/"},"modified":"2015-11-05T01:35:43","modified_gmt":"2015-11-04T17:35:43","slug":"want-to-be-an-astronaut-heres-your-chance-nasa-says-its-recruiting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/want-to-be-an-astronaut-heres-your-chance-nasa-says-its-recruiting\/","title":{"rendered":"Want to be an astronaut? Here\u2019s your chance \u2013 NASA says it\u2019s recruiting"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_209944\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-209944\" style=\"width: 620px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-209944 size-full-width\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/151104-astronaut-620x412.jpg\" alt=\"Astronaut in orbit\" width=\"620\" height=\"412\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/151104-astronaut-620x412.jpg 620w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/151104-astronaut-1240x823.jpg 1240w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/151104-astronaut.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 620px) 100vw, 620px\"><figcaption data-nosnippet=\"\" id=\"caption-attachment-209944\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">NASA says it will take astronaut applications starting next month. (NASA photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>NASA is opening its doors to recruit a fresh batch of astronauts \u2013&nbsp;and&nbsp;by the time the candidates finish training, they just might be able to ride shiny new space taxis into orbit.<\/p>\n<p>Today the space agency said it would start taking applications on Dec. 14 for its next class of astronaut candidates. Applications will be accepted via USAjobs.gov through mid-February, and selections are to&nbsp;be announced in mid-2017.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" size-full wp-image-188079 alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/pluto1.png\" alt=\"pluto\" width=\"250\" height=\"189\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/pluto1.png 250w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/pluto1-200x151.png 200w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/pluto1-132x100.png 132w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 250px) 100vw, 250px\"><br \/>\n<strong>Science journalist Alan Boyle<\/strong>&nbsp;is the author of &#8220;The Case for Pluto: How a Little Planet Made A Big Difference.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s close to the time when Boeing\u2019s CST-100 Starliner and SpaceX\u2019s Dragon V2 are expected to start ferrying astronauts to and from the International Space Station, representing the first crewed spaceships to be launched into orbit from U.S. soil since the shuttle fleet retired in 2011.<\/p>\n<p>The last time NASA put out the call for new astronauts, in 2012, more than 6,300 applied. Just eight were selected&nbsp;\u2013 four women and four men. Back in 1999, there were 150 active astronauts in NASA\u2019s corps, but by the time&nbsp;the shuttles went out of service, the number had fallen to 61. That reduction, which was due to retirements and other departures during the shuttles\u2019 sunset days, sparked concern from the National Research Council that there would be too few experienced astronauts available for NASA\u2019s&nbsp;next era of exploration.<\/p>\n<p>Since then, the number has fallen even lower, to 47 active astronauts.<\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"Astronaut Recruitment\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/QjECZVitU00?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen=\"\" data-ratio=\"0.5625\" data-width=\"800\" data-height=\"450\" style=\"display: block; margin: 0px; width: 800px; height: 450px;\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>NASA says astronaut candidates must have at least a bachelor\u2019s degree in engineering, biological science, physical science or math, plus at least three years of relevant professional experience&nbsp;\u2013 or at least 1,000 hours of piloting time in jet aircraft. They\u2019ll also have to pass NASA\u2019s physical for long-duration spaceflight.<\/p>\n<p>If NASA sticks to its schedule, the astronauts selected in 2017 may well&nbsp;be in the mix for missions to Mars and its moons in the 2030s. Those flights could make use of NASA\u2019s&nbsp;Orion deep-space exploration vehicle and heavy-lift Space Launch System rocket, which are due&nbsp;to be ready for crews starting in the 2021-2023 time frame.<\/p>\n<p>NASA Administrator Charles Bolden played the Mars card today in his come-on for would-be applicants: \u201cThis next group of American space explorers will inspire the Mars generation to reach for new heights, and help us realize the goal of putting boot prints on the Red Planet,\u201d he said in a statement.<\/p>\n<p>But by the 2030s, private-sector spacecraft may well be heading for the Red Planet as well. SpaceX\u2019s billionaire founder, Elon Musk, has talked&nbsp;about developing a rocket-powered system that could eventually bring thousands of settlers to Mars.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>NASA says it will take astronaut applications starting next month. (NASA photo) NASA is opening its doors to recruit a fresh batch of astronauts \u2013&nbsp;and&nbsp;by the time the candidates finish training, they just might be able to ride shiny new space taxis into orbit. Today the space agency said it would start taking applications on [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[1668,367,190],"class_list":["post-19578","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-astronauts","tag-mars","tag-nasa"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19578"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19578"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19578\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19578"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19578"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19578"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}