The Atlantic

Why Are So Many People Applying to Be Astronauts?

NASA received more than 18,300 applications for its newest class, three times more than its last round of hiring.
Source: Mike Blake / Reuters

More American workers than ever seem to want the world’s longest commute.

NASA will announce Wednesday its newest class of astronauts, between eight and 14 people, selected from a pool of more than 18,300 applicants. That’s a record for the space agency, which received more than 6,300 during its last call for new hires, in late 2011. The previous record was 8,000 applicants, set in 1978, the year the Voyager mission left Earth for a tour of the solar system.

Being an astronaut is, obviously, a very cool job, so it’s not surprising that thousands

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