More than 18,300 people applied to be NASA astronauts this year
A lot of people want to be NASA astronauts, apparently.
The space agency announced Friday that it received more applications than ever before for their astronaut corps: More than 18,300 people applied for the most recent call for astronauts.
“We have our work cut out for us with this many applications,” Brian Kelly, director of Flight Operations at NASA's Johnson Space Center, said in a statement.
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“But it’s heartening to know so many people recognize what a great opportunity this is to be part of NASA’s exciting mission. I look forward to meeting the men and women talented enough to rise to the top of what is always a pool of incredible applicants.”
The applications were open from Dec. 14, 2015 to Feb. 18. NASA doesn't take applications on a rolling basis. The agency's last call for astronauts ended in 2012.
This year's number of applications blows previous NASA records out of the water. The previous milestone was 8,000 people who applied for the class of 1978.
It remains to be seen, however, how many of the thousands of applications were serious, or if the total number also includes people who threw their names (or fake names) in as a joke.
According to NASA, the 18,300 applicants will be whittled down to just eight to 14 individuals during the next year and a half. That means each applicant has about a 0.07 percent chance of making it into the class.
The astronaut selections will be announced in mid-2017.
This is the first wave of astronauts to join the space agency at a time when it is preparing to revive America's crewed spaceflight program and chart a course toward deep space exploration, including a Mars mission.
Andrew Freedman contributed reporting.
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Miriam Kramer worked as a staff writer for Space.com for about 2.5 years before joining Mashable to cover all things outer space. She took a ride in weightlessness on a zero-gravity flight and watched rockets launch to space from places around the United States. Miriam received her Master's degree in science, health and environmental reporting from New York University in 2012, and she originally hails from Knoxville, Tennessee. Follow Miriam on Twitter at @mirikramer.
