Out Of This World Facts About Astronauts
"That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind." -Neil Armstrong
Astronauts are some of our best and brightest who are tasked with expanding the horizon of human exploration. The word Astronaut was coined by NASA, and derived from the Greek words Asitron (star) and nautes (sailor).
The Soviet Space agency uses a similar term- Cosmonaut, which means “sailor among the universe”.
Here are 45 out of this world facts about astronauts.
Astronauts Facts
46. 2000 Mile High Club
Commanders do not allow sexual intercourse on board the International Space Station. The question arose when a 2010 mission quadrupled the number of women on board from one to four, putting four men and four women in orbit.
The first married couple went to space in 1991, when training-camp sweethearts Jan Davis and Mark Lee served together on a mission. Both have refused to answer questions about the nature of their relationship during the mission.
NASA has officially stated that if anyone has ever had sex in space, they know nothing about it.
45. I Want to Be an Astronaut
In 2017, more than 18,000 people applied to join Nasa’s astronaut class. That’s almost three times the number of applications that were received in 2012, and far surpasses the record of 8000 applications set in 1978.
44. We’ll Call You
The selection process for NASA takes 18 months, and of the thousands of applications received, only 8-14 individuals will get the opportunity to become an astronaut.
