Aspiring astronauts were asked to write a Twitter post, a limerick or a haiku as part of their NASA applications. Here’s a winning entry from Victor Glover, 37, a U.S. Navy pilot and one of the eight members of the newly announced Astronaut Class of 2013.
“Eyes fixed gazing off into space
My mind in awe of the human race
This is all dizzying to me
Because I gave so much blood and pee
Happy to be here (by the) colonoscopy place.”
“That’s funny, if you go through this interview process, specifically the medical portion,” Glover told reporters during the group’s first press conference on Tuesday.
The newly named astronauts will have two years of training before they are eligible for flight assignments. All but two have U.S. military backgrounds. Christina Hammock, 34, was serving as a station chief for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in American Samoa before she got the call to join NASA. Jessica Meir, 35, is an assistant professor of anesthesia at Harvard Medical School.
Rounding out the new group of astronauts are: Josh Cassada, 39, a physicist and Navy pilot; Tyler Hague, 37, an Air Force pilot; Nicole Mann, 35, a Marine pilot; Anne McClain, 34, an Army helicopter pilot; and Andrew Morgan, 37, an emergency medical physician and surgeon with the Army.