"Eventual Eleven" was supposed to be 12

Interesting tidbit this morning regarding the newest crop of ascans:

"UPI also learned the original class of candidates consisted of 12, but
when informed they would not be flying the space shuttles, one candidate
withdrew."

http://washingtontimes.com/upi-breaking/20040510-041735-8585r.htm

--
Herb Schaltegger, B.S., J.D.
Reformed Aerospace Engineer
Columbia Loss FAQ:
http://www.io.com/~o_m/columbia_loss_faq_x.html

"UPI also learned the original class of candidates consisted of 12, but
when informed they would not be flying the space shuttles, one candidate
withdrew."

I wonder if it was a pilot or MS candidate.

If it was a pilot, I wonder if the old "spam in a can" line of thinking came up
considering CEV could likely be something like that.

Or just as easily they could have the fear that NASA will never get CEV
completed and once 2010 rolls by, that will be it for US manned space flight.

-A.L.

Interesting tidbit this morning regarding the newest crop
of ascans:
"UPI also learned the original class of candidates
consisted of 12, but when informed they would not be
flying the space shuttles, one candidate withdrew."

It was almost certainly a military test pilot - anyone
already in the NASA system could (mostly) continue their
other work if the Astronaut biz was slow. Franklin
Chang-Diaz still does propulsion work, etc.

Anyone coming from the commercial/academic world would
probably take the job and see how it went. A couple of years
as an Astronaut would improve their resume. They wouldn't be
flying the Shuttle anyway and could still work on their
specialty.

But military test pilots would have a choice of either
flying the newest version of the F-18 or F-22 or whatever,
or possibly sitting in meetings for several years. They
might decide to stay at Pax River or Edwards rather than
take a chance on NASA.


Charles Phillips
"Drink Upstream Of The Herd, Get A Macintosh"
note feeble anti-spam attempt on Reply-To address