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NASA Opens Astronaut Applications for People Who Find Office Travel Too Easy
· New York time
NASA has opened applications for its next astronaut class, seeking explorers for a program that includes returning to the Moon and laying groundwork for future crewed missions to Mars. The recruitment is part of the agency's longer-term human spaceflight plans. The job announcement offers an unusually large setting for a familiar employment pitch: join a team and help with its next chapter. In this case, the chapter involves spacecraft, lunar ambitions and a workplace where the commute can become a central part of the mission. NASA's call for applicants is a recruitment step, not a guarantee that every candidate will travel to a particular destination. It does show that the agency is preparing for future work while its exploration plans continue to develop. The practical appeal is clear for people drawn to complex technical work and exploration. The comic appeal is that even a mission beyond Earth begins with an application. Before anyone gets to contemplate a distant horizon, there is a process to enter and a team to join. The next class may help carry out extraordinary assignments, but first the agency has to fill its openings. Apparently even the road to the Moon runs through a hiring desk.
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