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For first time in decades, astronaut quits NASA training

An handout image made available by NASA on 22 October 2014 showing the heart of the James Webb Space Telescope, the Integrated Science Instrument Module (ISIM) and its sensitive instruments, that according to NASA have emerged unscathed from the thermal vacuum chamber at NASA?s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. The Webb telescope's images will reveal the first galaxies forming 13.5 billion years ago. The telescope will also pierce through interstellar dust clouds to capture stars and planets forming in our own galaxy. At the telescope's final destination in space, one million miles away from Earth, it will operate at incredibly cold temperatures of -387 degrees Fahrenheit, or 40 degrees Kelvin. EPA/CHRIS DUNN / NASA / HANDOUT HANDOUT EDITORIAL USE ONLY

For the first time in five decades, a NASA astronaut candidate has resigned from training, the US space agency said Tuesday.

 

Robb Kulin resigned from NASA effective August 31 for personal reasons, spokeswoman Brandi Dean said, declining to provide further details.

It’s not an easy gig to get — some 18,000 people routinely seek the 12 spots that open each year.

Kulin, who joined his class sounding upbeat, is the first would-be astronaut to leave training since a resignation in 1968. DM

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