It's Over?

Last year I applied for the astronaut program.  It was my first time and I really learned a lot about the process.  Since I'm not a pilot I applied for the "mission specialist" side of the house.  I felt I met all of the qualifications.

So I applied in the summer of 2008.  In July I received a postcard stating NASA had received my application and I was now in the selection process along with the other 3535 people.  In the meantime I found a Yahoo Group called Astronaut Hopefuls where I could join other applicants in spreading rumors and help pass the time.

According to the group, if you received the postcard stating NASA received your application (which I did), but did not receive another letter stating you are disqualified you were then in the "qualified" group.  Qualified?  Yippe!  I'm qualified to be an astronaut!

The problem is that there are 2799 other qualified applicants.  The tough part for NASA is to narrow down the 2800 qualified applicants to 450 "highly qualified" applicants.  Those 450 would be invited to Houston for interviews and they would be narrowed down to 15 new astronauts.

According to the Yahoo Group, the last interview for the highly qualified group has been scheduled.  I'm not in the top 450 :(

Brian's blog has an excellent graph of the totals for this astronaut class.  Click on the image to see a larger version:

So for now I'll enjoy the fact that I am "qualified".  I'll apply again the next time there's an opening.  Who knows when NASA will recruit again.  Everyone is guessing as to what will happen to NASA in this recession.  By the time NASA opens up the process again I'll have more grad school classes under my belt as well as more space related activites to put on the application.  This isn't over.  In a sense, it's just the beginning...

And now let's join the bunny in crying over the sad news...