Astronauts

Los Angeles Times reporter Karen Kaplan writes that NASA’s newest class of astronaut trainees includes Prof. Warren Hoburg and MIT alumni Raja Chari and Jasmin Moghbeli. “These would-be astronauts were chosen from among more than 18,300 applicants,” notes Kaplan. “That means their odds of being selected were less than 1 in 1,500.”

Space.com’s Katia Moskvitch writes that a team led by MIT Professor Jeffrey Hoffman has suggested new, cost-efficient techniques for establishing gas stations in space. The stations would be used to fuel future missions to the Moon.