CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (AP) -- Just days after putting out a nationwide call for teachers interested in becoming astronauts, NASA said it has already received more than 1,000 nominations.
Most of those doing the nominating, via the Internet, have been youngsters. A few had ulterior motives for sending their teachers into orbit.
"Because we all hate him and want him to leave, please take him," one student wrote.
NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe laughed as he read that nomination during a televised address to employees on Friday. He noted that the nominate-your-teacher icon on the Internet site now says:
"Remember, you're nominating your teacher for a round trip. It's not a one-way."
O'Keefe read a few other nominating letters. One read: "My fifth-grade science teacher knows a lot about science. When she teaches science subjects, she keeps me interested in studying science."
Another teacher came highly recommended by one of his students, who said: "He not only meets the requirements, he's also intelligent and a respectable man."
O'Keefe launched the program last week with the help of Barbara Morgan, a former Idaho schoolteacher who will fly to the international space station in November. She was the backup for Christa McAuliffe, who was killed in the Challenger accident in 1986.
NASA plans to hire three to six teachers for its next astronaut class, the Class of 2004. Like Morgan, the recruits will have to quit their teaching jobs, move to Houston and become full-fledged members of the astronaut corps.
As of Friday afternoon, NASA had received 1,008 nominations for its new educator-astronaut program. Florida, home to NASA's Kennedy Space Center, led the pack, followed by Texas, home to Mission Control, and then Pennsylvania.
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