A NASA Engineer Became an Astronaut After Being Rejected 14 Times | Hacker News Reader

A NASA Engineer Became an Astronaut After Being Rejected 14 Times

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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...

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.

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.

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

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

I'd expect the number of astronauts to skyrocket :)

Q. What's the difference between a bomb and a rocket?

A. Bombs blow things up. Rockets blow things up.

Err, don't rockets blow things down, to get an upward push by reaction?

Everyone knows that rockets work by pushing against the atmosphere!

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...

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.

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?

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.

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

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

Training and responsibility are different concepts.

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.

Which astronauts were politically connected prior to selection?

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.)

The academies are indeed open to "just anyone," but grades aren't the only consideration. Members of Congress have processes for requesting the nomination letters, and anyone can request one. There is strong competition for nominations.

I've had a few friends who attended West Point and the Air Force Academy, and they were all "normal," middle-class high school students, but with great grades, athletic achievements, and evidence of leadership ability.

Have any other examples of political influence in astronaut selection?

That recommendation from a congressmen/senator is given fairly easily--just leading a high school sports team to win your state's championship is enough. You don't have to even know them personally beforehand.

Good for him, chase your dreams.

Persistence is so often an underrated trait

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