While us boys were playing with our laser swords and communicators, living out science fiction fantasies, a lot of young girls were apparently playing with their astronaut Barbie Dolls, dreaming of the stars and making intentions of working their way up the real life ladder into space, and boy (or should I say girl) has it paid off! Ellen Ripley, the female protagonist space explorer from the science fiction/horror film Alien, would be so proud.
On June 17th, 2013, NASA ended their exhaustive year-long search to fill eight available astronaut positions. For the first time, half of the slots were filled by women, who were actually the most qualified of the candidates, said a NASA representative during a Google+ hangout introduction of the 2013 astronaut class. The women were not just chosen to deliberately represent an equal gender pool, signifying a “tribute to women today.” They will join four men at Johnson Space Center in Houston, TX, to begin training on August 1st, 2013. This marks the 21st class of NASA astronaut candidates, all of whom had to undergo a rigorous interview process that included medical, language aptitude, and mobility tests. They’ll join the current 49 other active NASA astronauts in the organization’s future pursuit of the first manned mission to an asteroid in the 2020 decade, with the goal of one day putting humans on Mars.
The 2013 astronaut candidate class comes from the second largest number of applications NASA ever has received — more than 6,100. The group will receive a wide array of technical training at space centers around the globe to prepare for missions to low-Earth orbit, an asteroid and Mars. Currently, the U.S. astronauts’ main mission is supporting the global efforts of the International Space Station. However, the future looks bright for NASA as corporate sponsored programs and engineering breakthroughs are pushing space exploration into new horizons. With the highest percentage of women ever selected in one group by NASA, women all over the world should take pride that they are well represented and reaching the head of the class in this very distinctive and challenging profession.
For more about the candidate class and biographies for the new trainees, visit NASA’s website at http://www.nasa.gov/astronauts/2013astroclass.html.
