Meet Your Lucky Stars: NASA Announces A New Class Of Astronaut Candidates
Just as class lets out for the summer across the country, a new one has just been announced.
NASA has chosen 12 people from a pool of more than 18,300 applicants for two years of training before giving them the title of "astronaut."
The space agency received a record number of applicants after announcing an open application in December 2015.
Jasmin Moghbeli, one of the dozen candidates, spoke with NPR's Lulu Garcia-Navarro from Houston's Johnson Space Center, where she'll undertake the training program starting in August.
Moghbeli, who says she's wanted to be an astronaut since the sixth grade, talked about what kind of candidate it takes to earn the coveted spot.
"Start looking into science, technology, engineering, math, those kinds of fields," the German-born, New York native says. But whatever you do, she says, love it.
"There were many other applicants that applied who were extremely qualified for this position that aren't lucky enough to be sitting up here like I am," she adds. "So make sure you're doing what you love. If I did not get the call saying, 'Hey can you join us here at NASA?' I still would've been extremely happy in the career
