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2 officers picked for astronaut training

Two Air Force officers are among the nine people named Monday to become NASA astronauts.

Making the cut from 3,500 applicants were:

* Lt. Col. Michael S. Hopkins, 40, a flight test engineer, now assigned to the Pentagon as special assistant to the vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

* Maj. Jack D. Fischer, 35, a test pilot, now assigned as a strategic policy intern to the Joint Chiefs of Staff at the Pentagon.

Hopkins became interested in space while watching Space Shuttle launches.

“I pursued aerospace engineering degrees from the University of Illinois and Stanford, completed my private pilot’s license, learned how to scuba dive, attended the Air Force Test Pilot School as a flight test engineer,” Hopkins said in a NASA press release. “I tried to do the best job I could throughout my career, and applied, applied, applied.”

Fisher’s goal of becoming an astronaut began nearly three decades ago.

“It started with a trip to see my grandpa at Johnson Space Center [Texas] when I was 6, but it has been cultivated by years of tireless family support, mentorship and friends who helped me along the way,” the major said in the NASA release.

As a pilot, Fisher flew the F-15E and F-22. The Air Force Academy graduate also holds an astrodynamics degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

The others picked were:

* NASA flight surgeon Kjell N. Lindgren, 36, of League City, Texas, and a graduate of the Air Force Academy.

* NASA flight surgeon Serena M. Aunon, 33, of League City, Texas.

* CIA technical intelligence officer Jeanette J. Epps, 38, of Fairfax, Va.

* MIT medical researcher Kathleen (Kate) Rubins, 30, of Cambridge, Mass.

* Navy test pilot Cmdr. Scott D. Tingle, 43, of Hollywood, Md.

* Navy test pilot Lt. Cmdr. Gregory R. (Reid) Wiseman, 33, of Virginia Beach, Va.

* Army Lt. Col. Mark T. Vande Hei, 42, of El Lago, Texas. Vande Hei is currently assigned to NASA as a flight controller for the International Space Station as part of the U.S. Army NASA Detachment.

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