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[::..about this blog..::]
"...all these worlds..." is a blog by David Hitt. It covers space exploration, decent science fiction, humor (by its very nature), and whatever else I happen to find cool. (Formerly "You Must Fight The Bear")
Name: David Hitt About Me: Inspiring the next generation of explorers... See my complete profile
[::..disclaimer..::]
The opinions expressed on this page are those of the author, and very likely no one else.
[::..archive..::]
:: Tuesday, May 11, 2004 ::
A New Era
It's a moment all astronauts remember, when the phone rings, and the voice at the other end from Johnson Space Center says, "We'd like you to come be an astronaut, if you're still interested." Really, they say, who's going to turn that down. Well, a potential member of Class 19 did. A 12th person was offered a candidate position, but decided they'd rather not be an astronaut when they found out they wouldn't be able to fly on the Shuttle. (To me, going to the Moon would be a pretty darned good consolation prize.) Also interested is "a senior NASA source"'s claim that "This will be the first class that will fly the Constellation (crew exploration vehicles)." One assumes that means that, just like the Thirty-Five New Guys in 1978, who were the first class to be picked to fly the Shuttle, these are the first astronauts picked specifically for the post-Shuttle era. If, in fact, they literally mean that previous astronauts will likely not outlast the Shuttle era, that's a very intriguing statement. The 1978 Class 8 may have been the first picked specifically for Shuttle, but members of, to the best of my knowledge, every class except 3 have flown on the Shuttle.