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Showing posts from September, 2012

NASA astronaut selection timeline update

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NASA will take an extra month to whittle down its approximately 400 Highly Qualified applicants to the 100 or so it plans to interview. That's what I infer from from the latest update to the Astronaut Candidate Selection Process Timeline . Interviewees will now be brought to JSC through January instead of December, with finalists determined by February and the new ASCAN class announced by June. These changes are noted by the red color in the updated table below. The report date for the Astronaut Candidate Class of 2013 remains August 2013. Good luck, everyone! November 15, 2011 Vacancy Announcement opens at USAJOBS . January 27, 2012 Vacancy Announcement closes. May-September 2012 Qualified Applications reviewed to determine Highly Qualified applicants. Qualifications Inquiry form sent to Supervisors / References and civilian applicants contacted by mail to obtain an FAA medical exam. August- December 2012 Highly Qualified applications reviewed to determine I

One small step for a man...

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Brian Shiro with Neil Armstrong (Feb 2012). Alternate photo shaking hands here . The world lost one of history's most important heroes this week. Hundreds of years from now , Neil Armstrong will still be a household name. I am humbled that I got to meet the first moonwalker this past February when he talked about his days as an X-15 test pilot prior to becoming an astronaut. Being bombarded by many eager admirers, we just had a few moments for me to thank him for his inspiring life , but I am grateful for the opportunity to be in presence of a man of such great humility and achievement. It has been four decades since we ventured to another world. We cannot let the innate human drive for exploration and new knowledge wither. Will the accomplishments of Armstrong and his fellow Apollo astronauts be the high water mark of our civilization, or will we honor them by venturing to Mars and beyond ? Every day I came to work this past week, I have been greeted by a flag at half st