A NASA Engineer Became an Astronaut After Being Rejected 14 Times

by pmcpinto • 11 years ago

150 22 11 years ago

popularmechanics.com

kelukelugames• 11 years ago

Amazing story but the interview is not interesting at all. Doesn't talk about his struggles. Just generic fluff.

Here is the link to reviews for his book.

http://www.amazon.com/Ordinary-Spaceman-Boyhood-Dreams-Astro...

smackfu• 11 years ago

Reminds me of the story of Charles Walker.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_D._Walker

Went on three shuttle missions with a BS in engineering and never joining NASA.

neurotech1• 11 years ago

A surprising number of "NASA engineers" from JSC became astronauts. When working at JSC, these engineers interact with the astronauts, and having a senior astronaut on your side is an advantage.

Additionally, a large proportion of astronauts apply multiple times before selection, although 14 times is probably a record.

Animats• 11 years ago

Being an astronaut for NASA would be more interesting if NASA had a functioning launch system. NASA still has too many astronauts. They had something like 140 at peak; now they're down to 46 or so.

Once Space-X gets their Falcon/Dragon system man-rated, this may change.

bane• 11 years ago

If Space-X can get launch costs down, this number will likely explode, as will commercial astronaut programs.

david-given3• 11 years ago

While I agree with the sentiment, I do think the word 'explode' in this sentence was possibly not a good choice?

g0v• 11 years ago

Good for him, chase your dreams.

awicklander• 11 years ago

He has an awesome story. I had the good luck to interview him a little while ago for a sporadic podcast I do: http://projectidealism.com/posts/2014/1/31/podcast-episode-1...

reinhardt• 11 years ago

On the one hand that's some admirable persistence right there.. on the other I don't know.. how would you feel if your doctor had been rejected 14 times from med school before getting his degree?

sandworm1014• 11 years ago

I think the astronauts are more patients than doctors. They are test subjects. Every move in space is carefully planned by committees on the ground. No doubt it is a demanding job requiring all sorts of skills, but it isn't the same as a surgeon. Absent some worst case scenarios, responsibility and decision making is far more shared.

amorphid• 11 years ago

Astronauts are some of the most highly trained people on the planet.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astronaut_training

sandworm1014• 11 years ago

Glad to see that this guy doesn't appear to be politically connected. So many astros are that I had assumed anyone taken into the program so late in their career would be related to a senator or three. It's nice to be proven wrong.

But I remain under the impression that astro selection is very political.

Ankaios2• 11 years ago

Which astronauts were politically connected prior to selection?

sandworm1014• 11 years ago

For starters ... all who want to westpoint. To go to the point you need a recommendation from either sitting congressmen/senator, or a "career" officer of note in the US armed forces. Westpoint is not open to just anyone with the grades. You very literally have to know people in high places.

http://www.usma.edu/admissions/sitepages/apply_nominations.a...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_astronauts_educated_at...

(That's just the easiest to research. If you dig into most astronaut's backgrounds you can find prominent people who helped them along.)

inguinalhernia• 11 years ago

Persistence is so often an underrated trait

A NASA Engineer Became an Astronaut After Being Rejected 14 Times

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