New Astronauts!

Exciting news! NASA announced their selections for the 2009 astronaut class, THE CHUMPS, who will begin training at Houston's Johnson Space Center in August. These are the first new hires in 5 years!


The new astronauts are:
Serena M. Auñón (33) of League City, Texas
Jeanette J. Epps (38) of Fairfax, Virginia
Jack D. Fischer (35) of Reston, Virginia
Michael S. Hopkins (40) of Alexandria, Virginia
Kjell N. Lindgren (36) of League City, Texas
Kate Rubins (30) of Cambridge, Massachusetts
Scott D. Tingle (43) of Hollywood, Maryland
Mark T. Vande Hei (42) of El Lago, Texas
(Gregory) "Reid" Wiseman (33) of Virginia Beach, Virginia

That's three new women and six new men who hold a combined 23 college degrees! Like, wow. Other interesting tidbits? Lindgren and Auñón are Flight Surgeons, Epps is a CIA intelligence officer; and Vande Hei (Army) and Wiseman (Navy) have both served in the Middle East.

A few days back, one of my blog posts featured Major Jack Fischer, excerpting an inspiring essay he penned about humanity's continued exploration in space.

For the full article, as well as profiles on each new astronaut, see the 2009 Astronauts Class section of the NASA website...