NASA Introduces New Astronaut Candidates This Afternoon

NASA will discuss the selection of its latest class of astronaut candidates via a Google+ hangout social media event this afternoon at 3:00 pm Central Daylight Time (4:00 pm Eastern).

NASA says that for the first time, half of the new class is female.   There are only eight new astronaut candidates so the absolute number — four — is not large, but it does look good as a percentage. Yesterday was the 50th anniversary of the first flight of a woman in space — Valentina Tereshkova aboard Vostok 6 in 1963.  Tomorrow is the 30th anniversary of the first flight of an American women into space — Sally Ride on STS-7 in 1983.

To join the hangout, visit http://go.nasa.gov/126mOLK.

The list of new astronaut candidates is as follows:

Josh A. Cassada, Ph.D., 39, is originally from White Bear Lake, Minn.
Cassada is a former naval aviator who holds an undergraduate degree from Albion College, and advanced degrees from the University of
Rochester, N.Y. Cassada is a physicist by training and currently is serving as co-founder and Chief Technology Officer for Quantum Opus.

Victor J. Glover, 37, Lt. Commander, U.S. Navy, hails from Pomona, Calif., and Prosper, Texas.
He is an F/A-18 pilot and graduate of theU.S. Air Force Test Pilot School, Edwards, Calif. Glover holds degrees from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, Calif.; Air University and the Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, Calif. He currently is serving as a Navy Legislative Fellow in the U.S. Congress.

Tyler N. (Nick) Hague, 37, Lt. Colonel, U.S. Air Force, calls Hoxie, Kan., home.
He is a graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy, Colorado Springs, Colo.; Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Mass., and the U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School, Edwards, Calif. Hague currently is supporting the Department of Defense as Deputy Chief of the Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Organization.

Christina M. Hammock, 34, calls Jacksonville, N.C., home.
Hammock holds undergraduate and graduate degrees from North Carolina State University, Raleigh, N.C. She currently is serving as National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration Station Chief in American Samoa.

Nicole Aunapu Mann, 35, Major, U.S. Marine Corps, originally is from
Penngrove, Calif.
She is a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, Stanford University and the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School, Patuxent River, Md. Mann is an F/A 18 pilot, currently serving as an Integrated Product Team Lead at the U.S. Naval Air Station, Patuxent River.

Anne C. McClain, 34, Major, U.S. Army, lists her hometown as Spokane, Wash.|
She is a graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, Va.; the University of Bath and the University of Bristol, both in the United Kingdom. McClain is an OH-58 helicopter pilot, and a recent graduate of the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School at Naval Air Station, Patuxent River.

Jessica U. Meir, Ph.D., 35, is from Caribou, Maine.
She is a graduate of Brown University, has an advanced degree from the International Space University, and earned her doctorate from Scripps Institution of Oceanography. Meir currently is an Assistant Professor of Anesthesia at Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston.

Andrew R. Morgan, M.D., 37, Major, U.S. Army, considers New Castle,Pa., home.
Morgan is a graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, and earned a doctorate of medicine from the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Bethesda, Md. He has experience as an emergency physician and flight surgeon for the Army special operations community, and currently is completing a sports medicine fellowship.