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Two Astronauts Who Beat The Odds To Get Into Space

Thursday, August 29, 2013 10:24

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(Before It's News)

In white suits: JAXA astronaut Koichi Wakata (left) and NASA astronaut Rick Mastracchio during spacewalk training for Expeditions 38/39. Credit: NASA

In white suits: JAXA astronaut Koichi Wakata (left) and NASA astronaut Rick Mastracchio just prior to spacewalk training for Expeditions 38/39. Credit: NASA

Getting into space is never a guarantee for an astronaut. Heck, getting into an astronaut program can be tough, as Koichi Wakata and Rick Mastracchio told Universe Today.

The crewmates on Expedition 38/39 are supposed to head to the International Space Station in November. But they beat incredible odds to be selected in the first place. Wakata, who is with the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), didn’t even have an astronaut program to join when he was a kid. Mastracchio (from NASA) did, but it took him nine years’ worth of applications to get in.

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Read the rest of Two Astronauts Who Beat The Odds To Get Into Space (537 words)