The 2017 NASA astronaut candidate class was picked over a two-year period from 18,300 applicants. Four of the chosen 12 have direct connections to Colorado. Jessica Watkins and Matthew Dominick were born and raised in Lafayette and Wheat Ridge, respectively. Dr. Frank Rubio currently serves as a surgeon in Fort Carson and Robb Kulin attended the University of Denver.
KUNC recently interviewed Kulin as he prepares for two years of astronaut training.
Kulin credits his interest in space to his time as an undergraduate in Colorado. A project on the Columbia disaster opened his eyes to the possibilities of space exploration. He also points to the type of people Colorado tends to draw and the remarkable professors at DU as influential parts of his journey to become an astronaut.
Kulin and his fellow candidates, along with two Canadians, will begin their two-year training August 21.
Interview highlights with Robb Kulin, a 2017 astronaut candidate
What it was like to get “the call:”
Robb Kulin: In late May, they gave us the call. You get that call coming from Houston and, “Oh man, this could go either way.” I've been turned down before -- it's pretty hard to be turned down, honestly. You can't help but get your hopes up even though you know the odds are small.
This time around, they called and I heard a few [individuals] on the line in a pretty jovial mood so I figured that was a good sign. Then they invited me to come to Houston which was pretty awesome.
I was actually working at the time for SpaceX, space exploration technologies, getting ready to launch a resupply mission to a space station so it was pretty cool to think, “Heck, I hope one day I'll be up there receiving one of these resupply missions.”
On what will happen next:
Kulin: Over the next two years, we'll get to know each other pretty darn well because we'll do all sorts of training from survival training, medical training, flight training in the T-6 for those that aren't military pilots already. I think I already mentioned survival training.
We'll also be learning safe stations, the space suit, it's pretty cool--basically it's own little spacecraft just to support you. We'll learn all about the spacesuit and it's systems. Practice spacewalks and those techniques and learn Russian, of course, because we have to work closely with our Russian counterparts on the space station. There's a lot to do over the next two years. It's the tip of the iceberg, if you will. But it should be pretty exciting.
A message to children with big dreams:
Kulin: At the end of the day, I never thought I would actually get selected. I think very few people honestly think that they will. The odds are just really small. But what's really important is that you do something that you're passionate about.
I've been really fortunate to have an awesome time getting to this point just doing the things I loved. It turned out these happened to parallel pretty well [with what] the astronaut corps finds interesting -- like flying, scuba diving, working in Antarctica, playing in the mountains, being a doctorate in engineering, these kind of things.
At the end of the day, I'd still be super psyched even if I hadn't gotten selected. I think that's important. Whether it be going to be an astronaut or be something else, do something you're passionate about, push yourself hard, and have a lot of fun with it.
