SpaceX returns to the ISS, a perfect kickoff to Yuri's Night weekend #CRS8 #YurisNight #ISSRC

This post has been significantly delayed because of all the awesome April activities including +Yuri's Night, +NASA Swarmathon and NASA's +International Space Apps Challenge. A little has been lost from the raw emotion of +SpaceX's triumphant return to the +International Space Station and historic landing on a barge out at sea for the first time, but as always, the photos retell the best stories.

As always, the blog starts with the launch pic. Right on time, no delays, a nice way to end the week and begin the Yuri's Night weekend!

Yuri's Night 2015 Beach Report. Personal highlights from Cape Canaveral and Cocoa Beach #YurisNight

Leading up to Yuri's Night in the Media

This year I was lucky enough to discuss +Yuri's Night with a few media outlets. I was excited to see my photo end up on the front page of the 2nd section of the +FLORIDA TODAY in an excellent article by James Dean.

Front page of section 2! Seeing the news in print is always more exciting than online.

I'm on TV! +News 13's Jerry Hume came to Bacchae for an interview about the events in Florida.

'Twas the day after my wedding and my astronaut hopes were high: 2013 NASA Astronaut Selection Personal Story

Last summer I wrote a short blog post about making it to the Highly Qualified round of the NASA Astronaut Selection. Because the process is essentially a job interview process, my family advisers recommended that I shouldn't post any news. I'm releasing that blog today, because +NASA just announced the names of the 8 new, very talented, NASA Astronaut Candidates, and I wanted to share my personal microslice of this selection process. I'm proud that the chosen include an International Space University alumna Jessica Meir (MSS '00) and +MIT AeroAstro alumnus Tyler "Nick" Hague (SM '00). Please read more about the Elite 8 from +NASA's press release and video message from NASA Administer Charlie Bolden: http://www.nasa.gov/astronauts/2013astroclass.html

It was a very long process, with NASA announcing the application process in November 2011 and due in January 2012, with not much news until August 2012 for the Highly Qualified. Overall the process was longer than our wedding engagement (only because we had to wait a year for Yellowstone reservations). In a side note for this selection process, during my eye test in my medical I was switching between contacts, no contacts, then my old prescription glasses (like 5+ years old), so I think I botched my eye test. Regardless of this minor detail, I do plan to get corrective laser surgery for my eyes, which I have been waiting years for, saving up and also making sure that the procedure established a solid and safe track record.

My "Two for One" certificate/coupon from
XCOR Aerospace at NSRC 2013.
Could this be how I enter space for the first time?

I will continue to work hard to help open the space frontier and push commercial space exploration. Hopefully next selection will be my "third times a charm," as I will hit the age range of the current selected group (the new males are 37, 37, 37 and 39). Maybe the +Canadian Space Agency will also be ready for another selection and I can apply for a second time (last selection I made the top 2% of 5,352 applicants and had a video interview). The future is bright for commercial spaceflight so I'm also doing my best to form strategic plans on how I may be a flight participant or researcher. Each year I attend the Next-Generation Suborbital Researchers Conference I feel more confident about those possibilities and NASA's Flight Opportunities Program will be opening up to allow researchers on-board spacecraft with their payloads. I do have my "Two for One" certificate from XCOR Aerospace that may come in handy.

Valentina Tereshkova - 1st Woman in Space!

Virgin Galactic also announced their 600th future astronaut today, Marsha Waters, which is on the heels of the 50th anniversary of the first woman in space Valentina Tereshkova (Валенти́на Терешко́ва - 16 June 1963), and the day before the 30th anniversary of America's first woman Sally Ride (18 June 1983). Celebrating milestones and anniversaries in space are important for us to think about where we've been, where we are now, and where we are going. Recognizing this importance is why I've been with +Yuri's Night for over 11 years now (I still need to write a 2013 summary of highlights!). I'm sticking with YN for at least another solar orbit as we continue to expand our reach and diversity of space celebrations. Soon we will be releasing our call for 2013-2014 Global Executive Team members.

Now the main feature! Notice that I was optimistic about the selection numbers being for 15 people, but only 8 were chosen. I'm not sure if sequestration had a toll on NASA's 21st Astronaut Group. I've also heard rumors of selections happening more often with smaller groups. More humans to space! After all, we are all explorers of the stars hurdling through space on this planet we call Spaceship Earth.

Original Blog Title: 404 Error: Astronaut Not Found... Yet! I'm still in the NASA Astronaut selection!

Image Source: Agens

Don't let the title and funny error art fool you, this is very exciting news and definitely not an error. On August 6th, the day after our wedding, I received an email from one of my references saying "Double congratulations" in the subject line. With barely any reception in Yellowstone National Park I didn't notice my phone had updated my messages until later on. The message simply said congratulations on the wedding and "you've made the highly qualified list in the astronaut selection process". What a great space wedding present! That and Curiosity (Mars Science Laboratory) safely landing on Mars as a serendipitous after-party to our wedding reception (we picked the date before NASA had a landing date).

I decided not to post the news right away as I wanted to complete my medical screening (a NASA custom form filled out by a certified FAA Aviation Medical Examiner similar to the Class II or III FAA medical exam) and I wanted to digest the news with family and close friends first. Now to address the "404 Error" title. Historically there are approximately 400 (let's just call it "404") Highly Qualified applicants left at this stage. I'm not exactly sure how many applicants have been asked at this point, but the original pool included 6,372 individuals (USA Today Article), the second highest number of applications ever received by NASA (check out the press release). So a summary by the numbers (I love numbers):

• 6,372 Total Applicants
• ~4,200 Qualified applicants through first cut (Ref: Brian Shiro's blog)
• ~404 Highly Qualified applicants
• ~100 applicants asked to interview at NASA JSC
• 9-15 (rumors are that it will be closer to 15) Applicants invited to become Astronaut Candidates (AsCans)

My fingers are crossed that I will make the interview round. Statistically I have a 1 in 4 shot of an interview. But the 404 are amazing individuals spanning many disciplines and talents, so we will just have to see what unfolds.

An interesting fact to keep in mind is that this particular astronaut class may be flying on a variety of spacecraft with all the new commercial activity and CCiCap being awarded to fund these new vehicles. The destinations also haven't been decided outside of the International Space Station, but they all sound amazing to me. The only thing cooler than going to space more than once, is blasting off in different rockets and spaceships! Oh my!

Space!

Ryan

It's time to Rock the Planet and Make an Impact for Yuri's Night 2012! @YurisNight

Yuri's Night 2012 officially kicked off on Thursday April 5th with two events: Bucharest, Romania and Washington, DC, USA! The event registrations are still coming in and the current tally is 170 events (9 Virtual), in 42 countries, on all 7 continents. Usually registrations come in fast in the last two weeks and until a week after. Jen and I have already attendi one event and have three more to go! We enjoyed watching First Orbit at Harvard and then checked out their telescope, but unfortunately the clouds did not part for star gazing.

          

Left: First Orbit screening with macaroons and cupcakes

Right: Harvard's Telescope

Tomorrow we are off to France for the Explore Mars ISS-Mars Conference at the International Space University, which will feature a Yuri's Night celebration/reception in honor of ISU's 25th Anniversary on April 12th. On April 13th there will be a more informal party at a local Strasbourg bar (TBD). After a few days of travel we will make our way back to New York City for our final event. For ISU and NYC I will be bringing the Ron Garan Space Shirt Exhibit (there is no official name for the exhibit), which features Yuri's Night items flown in space last year during the 50th Anniversary of Spaceflight.

Swag flown in space by Astronaut Ron Garan ready for it's first exhibit at ISU's 25th Anniversary / Yuri's Night ISU.

There are a few things people should know about this week:
1. Find an event near you and go check it out: http://yurisnight.net/partylist/
2. Can't find one? It's NOT too late to start your own and it can be a simple gathering of friends.
3. If you are at an event(s) please post pictures or summaries to Yuri's Night Live.

Just for fun, here's a feed of Yuri's Night tweets featuring "yurisnight", which should pick up the last 10 hashtags (#) and mentions (@) courtesy of TwitStatus.com.

Have an awesome Yuri's Night 2012 and Rock the Planet!

Space!
Ryan

The Book of Yuri: Make an Impact in 2012!

Fresh off of one trip to the Next-Generation Suborbital Researchers Conference, I'm starting make my plans for the next. But this trip isn't for "work", it's for Yuri's Night (YN). All of the YN Global Executive Team pours hours of volunteer time into making the World Space Party happen and occasionally we can participate in conferences and events like the National Space Society's International Space Development Conference (ISDC). At ISDC, the YN Exec has their annual Executive Summit to prepare for the following year's activities and a call for new exec. For 2012, the YN Exec is encouraging events to "Make an Impact" on their local communities as they help inspire and educate the world about human spaceflight. My Yuri's Night plans this season will be an intense world tour as I plan to attend four different Yuri's Night events and it is my intention to bring the space swag flown in space by Astronaut Ron Garan to (at least) three of the events.

Yuri's Night 2011 on the International Space Station.
Video link of the crew saying hello for YN 2011!

Last year, Ron flew six YN t-shirts for the crew of the International Space Station to wear for Yuri's Night on April 12th, which was also the 50th Anniversary of Human Spaceflight. The crew celebrated with a Russian dinner and a movie! In Ron's acceptance video for the 2011 Spirit of Yuri's Night Award he surprised us by telling us he would be bringing his shirt back to earth (Video on Fragile Oasis). He had mentioned in an email that he would wash the shirt, and jokingly I replied that we could have a "smell space" exhibit. Needless to say, the shirt was not washed as it retained a slight metallic smell of the International Space Station. Ron had also flown three other Yuri's Night items, an invitation placard (post card advert we designed), a sticker, and a blinky LED lapel pin (button). The three objects plus Ron's shirt were sent to me with certificates and I plan to share them with the world. Below the photos of the items are the Yuri's Night events where they will be featured. After Yuri's Night 2012 we will be looking for a host location for the exhibit. Here's where the space swag will be displayed for April 2012:

• APR 7: SpaceUp Boston / Yuri's Night Boston (SpaceUp Registration)
• APR 12: 25th Anniversary of International Space University / Yuri's Night ISU as part of the Explore Mars "International Space Station and Mars Conference - Europe" (Tickets/Details)
• APR 13 (*not on display): Yuri's Night Strasbourg (Details unfolding, check YN website)
• APR 20: Yuri's Night New York City (Website)

Just in case you were wondering about the blog title, I recently saw Book of Mormon on Broadway in New York City (awesome!) and sometimes when I talk about Yuri's Night and human spaceflight it feels like I'm spreading a religion. I guess that's how passion works sometimes! On that note: Look for the Yuri's Night Global Executive Team members at the ISDC this May and register today to help "Make an Impact" on April 12th!

Rock the Planet!
Space!

Ryan

RON'S T-SHIRT

BLINKY LED LAPEL PIN (BUTTON)

SILVER STICKER

INVITATION

Basic requirements met for 2013 NASA Astronaut Selection!

Round 2 <bing!>

This will be my second attempt applying to the Astronaut Corps. In 2008 I was privileged to apply to both the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as I am a dual citizen. I'm was in the heat of my PhD during the application process and if I was selected in 2009 my PhD would have taken a significant blow. I thought that it would be possible to finish in my "spare time" if I was selected, but in retrospect I don't think it would have been that simple and I'm guessing that my final 1.5 years of my degree would have taken 10 years.

This application year is much more exciting because my PhD is complete and I've been working on research at MIT in the Man-Vehicle Laboratory (MVL). Some projects relate to spacesuits (commercial and injury prevention) while others relate to Inertial Measurement Units (IMUs), which contain accelerometer, magnetometers and gyroscopes. I've been particularly busy with the IMU's preparing new data for an abstract for the Next-Generation Suborbital Researchers Conference, which will have to be discussed in another post some time soon. Back to the astronaut selection topic!

The most satisfying start to the application process that a candidate can make is looking at the basic requirements and checking them ALL off! Here's the skinny (details can be found on USAJOBS):

REQUIREMENT	CHECKLIST
EDUCATION
Bachelor's degree in an applicable field (engineering, biological science, physical science, or mathematics)	Bachelor's degree in an applicable field (engineering, biological science, physical science, or mathematics) BScH Mechanical Engineering, Queen's University MSS Masters of Space Studies, International Space University MS Aerospace Engineering, Penn State University PhD Aerospace Engineering Sciences, Bioastronautics, University of Colorado at Boulder
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
3 years professional experience (master's degree = 1 year of experience, doctoral degree = 3 years of experience)	+ 2 Masters and PhD (not including other contracts before PhD topic with NASA GSRP GRC) = 5 years + X PRIZE Foundation = 14 months total (4 months for masters so assume ~10 months experience outside) + FMARS = 4 months + work before/after at CU = 8 months + MIT MVL = since Nov. 2010 + time elapsed (assume end of summer 2012) = 22 months = TOTAL = > 3 years :-)
PHYSICAL
Vision correctable to 20/20	I have glasses/contacts that are a basic prescription (no toric lenses or anything special)
Resting blood pressure no more than 140/90	I'm not going to disclose that information, but I'm golden. On a side note, my resting heart rate is considered "athletic".
Height 62-75 inches (due to Soyuz and EVA anthropometric requirements)	68 inches, boo-yah!
U.S. citizenship	Yes sir!

So this dual citizen is ready to apply! Because I will be applying for a few faculty positions in early December, I will begin the Astronaut application afterwards, which is due 27 January 2012. It is essentially the same process as the last call, but I have to re-reduce my 20 page CV down to 6 (I've cut it to 6 a few times for NASA jobs applications, but I need to make sure key information is not neglected on training, experience, and other highlights). In the last round, my references were not checked, meaning that my PhD active status may have eliminated me early (not sure). I'm hoping to make it to the interview level at the very least this selection. In the CSA selection, I was video interviewed making it to the Top 2% out of 5352 candidates! Other information about NASA Astronauts can be found on their website. Also, Brian Shiro usually has excellent updates from a candidate's perspective on his blog: http://astronautforhire.com/. Here's the really cool 2013 Astronaut call video that I got chills watching, especially imagining conducting all those Extravehicular Activities (EVAs), a.k.a. space walks, asteroid bouncing, Moonwalking, and Marstrutting! Of course they will need better short names for asteroids and Mars missions.

Space!

Ryan