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Astronaut aspirations? NASA taking applications

Posted at 12:02 PM, Dec 14, 2015
and last updated 2015-12-14 12:02:40-05

Need more office space? How about outer space?

NASA opened its astronaut-application website Monday. It's accepting applications through Feb. 18.

Contenders need to be U.S. citizens with a bachelor's degree in science, math or engineering. Expect intense competition: More than 6,000 applied for NASA's last astronaut class in 2013, with only eight picked. It's an elite club, numbering only in the 300s since the beginning.

Future astronauts will have four spacecraft at their disposal: the International Space Station, two commercial crew capsules to get there, and NASA's Orion spacecraft for eventual Mars trips. Pay is between $66,000 and $145,000 a year, and you'll have to move to Houston.